Frogspondlight

Oh, and, I forgot to mention

2010-12-09T13:11:00.001-05:00

Speaking of getting a dog...

I feel that it is terribly unfair that goddess made dogs without ass cheeks because there is simply no warning when they let a nasty, smelly one rip. Especially in the small confines of a moving automobile.

That is all.

Long Train Rolling

2010-12-09T12:42:00.002-05:00

So here I sit in the University center waiting for my next class to start.

A lot has happened in the last year and a half since my last posting.

I got laid off from work. I finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up. I applied to and got accepted at a University as a Geology Major. I solidified my new relationship by moving in with her. I got a dog. I got a garden. I nearly lost a sister but ended up closer to her than ever. I didn't get the chance to attend my daughters high school graduation but I got the chance to visit with her over Parent's and Alumni Weekend at her college.

How the hell do I sum up the last year and a half. I don't think I can. I think I just start from here, in my new life, and go from there.

So, here I sit in the University center waiting for my next class to start trying to wrap my head around being back in school after 20 years. Correction, I am trying to wrap my head around doing really well in school after crashing and totally burning 20 years ago.

Sometime soon that will actually sink in. :-)

Bad Music

2009-07-16T18:07:00.008-05:00

Hello everyone. I have been a very bad blogger in that I got a life for a little while there and stopped blogging. Ok, well, that was just rude. I am PMSing and have had a couple of shittastic days so what do you expect. The rest of this post, while just as snarky, is a lot funnier. :-)

On to the entry.

My internet at home has been turned off. It was turned off because I didn't pay the bill for three months. The first two months are my fault because I have CRS desease and didn't get a bill in the mail. The last month was because at the end of the second month, when I thought to myself "hmmm. I haven't paid the internet bill" I went online and checked the amount I owe. The total was MUCH higher than what it should have been. So I called Comcast and asked them what was up. Turns out my CRS disease had kicked in before and caused me to not turn a piece of equipment in to them. I dutifully turned it in a day (or two) later. Then I waited for them to remove that charge so that I could see what I really owed. Six weeks later the no return fee is still on my account, I have talked with them 4 times on the phone, faxed the reciept for the equipment I did return, did an online chat with their customer service (because apparently when your service has been cut off you are not allowed to talk with customer service on the phone anymore, you get redirected to a quite grumpy woman with severe attitude issues who works for their billing department) and on the suggestion of the online chat customer service rep drove to my local office two days in a row, the second day having left my office (an hour and a half away) with enough time to make it before they closed so that I could argue with someone in person and pay what I really owe and get my service turned back on. I was 3 minutes too late and the office was closed. The nice lady working behind the counter did look a little sypathetic through the window while she gestured that they were closed after I banged on it and begged to be let in.

But I digress in my explaining why I am at my local coffee shop (with free WiFi) willingly subjecting myself to bad music.

Basically, I have no internet at home. I am an internet junkie but I cannot bring myself to pay over 500 dollars to have my service turned back on when all I owe is $198. The name of this cute little coffee shop is Jumpin Java (www.jumpinjava.net) and it is in Charles Town West Virginia. (Ok, before the jokes start I only have one missing tooth and that one is way in the back where you can't see it so that doesn't count. LOL)

Where was I? Oh, Jumpin Java in Charles Town.

Ok, so Jumpin Java is apparently having an open mic night tonight for local musicians. That sounds like a great idea right?

The first guy up is... well, how do I put this?? So bad that my ears are going to start bleeding. He sounds very similar to what I would imagine a guy would sound like if someone was stepping on his testicles while demanding that he whine about the piss poor parts of his life.

GEEBUS! He just said that he has CDs for sale. Ok, good music is apparently dead now. Why didn't get that notice???

Ahhh. He has stopped now. I am hopeing that it gets better or at least this is as bad as it gets.

No, that apparently wasn't as bad as it could get.

No, not even close.

I am sitting here, with home made ear plugs (rolled up napkins work well) listening to some of the worst "rock" music I have ever heard. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of rock music. I have had the time of my life at OzzFest so you know I must have pretty loose taste in what I consider "good" music.

With that in mind...

Oh Sweet F*cking Geebus.

Someone decided to come back and stand on the guy's testicles again. I think they are wearing golf shoes this time.

SHIT! It just got worse... someone is apparently "playing" a trumpet... badly. Very badly in fact.

This is so bad I may just give Comcast the entire $500+ that they think I owe them. Shit, I may toss in a huge tip. Somewhere along the line these guys seem to have gotten the idea that playing louder makes up for a lack of any real talent. Wow. I bet they could get music fans to pay them a lot of money to never, ever, under any circumstances, pick up an instrument or sing... ever... again.

NOW he decides to tune his guitar? I thought that was supposed to be done BEFORE you start playing. That is optional apparently. Well, singing anywhere close to on key definitely is.

Now they are using an accordion help to create some sort of "Ozzfest meets Haight Ashbury" sort of thing. Too many drugs perhaps? Too much Guitar Hero playing that deluded them into thinking they have any sort of talent whatsoever for music? Too many "friends" who just didn't have the guts to tell these guys the truth that they... well... totally suck?

I am betting that it would be considered rude to go up, tear the bass out of the player's hands and beat the lead guitarist with it huh? I do wonder though... how many of these folks in this coffee shop would cheer for that very action?

I now understand the value in auditions.

Lenten Blogging Part 5 - No Sleep and Cute Kitties

2009-03-28T00:51:00.002-05:00

So, I am in bed, not sleeping.

This is not unusual for me lately. (Lately being the last 7 months or so)

There is an adorable kitty right next to my knee and she is sleeping. I am in a bit of disbelief that she gets to come with me when I move. She is a riot. Needy and sometimes clingy, but don't pick her up. Nope, not gonna happen. Wouldn't be prudent. (Couldn't resist, what can I say, I'm not sleeping)

Back to the uber adorable kitty because I am digressing...

She came to me via my roommate. My roommate got her because I forwarded an email to her about a kitty needing a home. The kitty came home and then the kitty decided that since otherkitty had a mommy already that I needed a kitty of my very own. She attached herself to me and hasn't looked back. She and otherkitty get along really well. I am worried that she will miss otherkitty too much when we leave because the place I think we are going to will only have one kitty so I can't get anotherkitty to join her. I will try to explain to her that she will be QueenKitty there and that this is an advantage since she will get all my attention.

I hope she agrees.

I just reread this post and wow, I really need to get some sleep. Geez.

Lenten Blogging Part 4 - Ending a partnership, starting a friendship

2009-03-26T22:40:00.001-05:00

Here I am, processing 6 years with someone. The end of part of a relationship is interesting for me. I do not usually stay friends with exes. This is new. I cannot imagine my life without her in it. The commitment I made in November still stands, it is just different now. I cannot be her partner anymore because I came to realize that we are much better friends than partners.

I am finding that many things are coming up for me as I process this. The fact that I have not had true emotional intimacy for a long time is a sad realization. That thought came to me earlier this week. It broke my heart a little bit to realize that I had kept going in a relationship where I was showing less and less of myself. I would like to say that there seemed to be less and less interest on her part in seeing the whole of me, but, I want to be honest in this and so I will wait for a little while in making that judgement and have a real look at what happened there. Was I intentionally pulling away? Was I making such huge changes that it would have been a serious effort to keep up with them? Was it that my life was coming apart in such a way that I couldn’t spare the energy to try and explain the changes in me? Was it that I was growing at a different rate than she was?

Is it a little bit of all of the above?

I just read an article on emotional affairs and I wonder, did I have one? Were those evenings spent in on the tailgate of my truck talking till all hours of the night, an emotional affair? I would like to say no, but, I realize now that perhaps that isn’t true. I was getting more emotional support from those talks than from my partner. I would like to be all bitter and shit and say that she wasn’t there for me but, I need to look and see if I gave her the chance to be. Did I assume that she would not be able to handle what I was going through and just didn’t even bother with trying? Did I try and not get what I needed? Should I have tried more? Better question would be could I have tried more. (That answer is a no. I realize that right away when I think back to how hard those 7 months were.)

December really broke my heart. I was talking with someone about that today and was finally able to articulate that I wasn’t needing a whole big thing from her about it. A simple “I am sorry that I couldn’t be there for you when you needed it” would have gone sooooo far in helping heal the hurt. (for those that don’t know, I went through 7 months of sheer hell. Then near the end of those 7 months a friend gave me a trip to St. Louis to see my partner. I was in tears on the plane because I was finally going to get the chance to rest. I had made a commitment to my friends that I would rest and recoup and have a lot of fun while out there. I told my partner what I needed. What happened while I was out there was I got no rest and I ended up having to constantly fix things that were breaking in her life. I even had to move her from her unhealthy roommate situation to her own place, by myself, with a sprained back.)

To come to the realizations that I was not getting any of the support that I needed from her for a really long time (Honestly, the last time I got the support I needed was early last year sometime.) is hard to look at. It is hard to see that I was with someone that I usually gave to and did not get much in return (emotional support…. Shit. I want to leave it there but I didn’t get much financial support either. I would like to say it wasn’t her fault but I am having a moment where I can’t say that.) I feel like I have been with someone for the last year who did not know me. Who did not want to know me. Who was afraid of my anger sometimes, (not healthy to be afraid when someone gets angry not even at you) Who seemed to be afraid of being strong. She seemed like she was afraid of being healthy.

I look at these things and I begin to wonder what qualities I am looking for in friends and in a lover. I want someone strong. I want someone who says “why not” instead of “I can’t” when presented with a challenge.” I can’t” should be reserved for serious “ I have tried, more than once. I have a limitation that prevents me from doing [whatever] but I am going to find a way to work around this as much as I can”.

I guess I have a lot to write about concerning this. Sorry I haven’t been doing well with the Lenten blogging. There has been much writing but not much I could actually post.

Lenten Blogging Part 3 - My slice of heaven

2009-03-01T21:06:00.002-05:00

I realized this morning, when I was getting ready to paint some more in my roommate’s house, that I don’t think I can ever live in “suburbia”. This realization came about when I was thinking about what to do today. Here I was, with a whole day in front of me, and I could do anything. I could watch movies all day, I could read the few books I got recently that I have been wanting to read, I could rest and fully recoup from the migraine on Thursday night, or…

It was then I realized that I really can’t sit still.

It isn’t an ADHD thing (I don’t think…) I think it is a personality thing. I just like to keep moving and keep getting things done. I like to reach the end of the day with something accomplished. I like to look at something and say “That looks good” or “it is awesome that this is finished”.

I especially like to do outside things. This is most likely why I like to chop wood so much. The gathering of the wood is awesome too. (Now that I have a lighter ax it will be easier). It is too early to do yard work or plant things just yet. Walking for a walk’s sake gets old after a while. So, chopping wood that I find out in the forest that I live in is a nice compromise.

I find that the quiet up here helps my mind as well. Too much psychic noise when there are too many people around. I have gotten very sensitive to this since I have been on the energy worker path these last two years. Communing with the trees is one of the things that helps me to recharge, rejuvenate, and reflect. Helps to clear my mind and my spirit.

If I were living in suburbia I would go nuts and be out in the woods all the time.

It’s not that there is anything wrong with suburbia is it just that I wouldn’t fit there very well. Too many houses, not enough room, too many people, not enough chores.

This is the perfect place for me because I there is always something to do here. Between chopping wood, painting, going for a hike, more chopping wood, sharpening the ax, playing on the computer, building a new computer, sorting all of my stuff, chopping more wood (cause it had been cold and I kept the wood burning stove in use a lot) and going for another walk to get more wood, painting the trim in the kitchen, I never have to sit still. :-)

My time here is limited though. I have plans to move to the Midwest in 2010. This gives me a year and a half to enjoy my slice of heaven. That thought does give this a tinge of sadness but it also helps me to savor each day I have up here. Even the days when I can’t get off the mountain because they haven’t plowed the road yet and the “S curve of death” is just waiting to take my new PT Cruiser are a little better because I know my time here is short.

Anyhoo…

Time to go and watch a movie. More tomorrow.

Lenten Blogging Part 2

2009-02-27T22:01:00.000-05:00

I apologize to everyone (myself included) that I could not post last night. Major migraine kicked in and took me out. I am better now that the meds to stop the migraine have worn off. (Good stuff but kicks my ass).

I have been wondering what to write about today. I think of things while I am driving into work in the morning but by the time I get home those ideas are gone.

Bummer really, cause a lot of those ideas are a riot.

Hmmmm. I could write about how it is a little nutty that my favorite church service is Ash Wednesday. (Do I get off on guilt or do I just like the fact that the sermon is great, the service is smaller and at night?)

I could write a bit about the Shamanic path I am on. (I think that is later)

I could write about how I think Spirit wants me to write to my family during this time. (uuuuuug. Do I haaave toooooo?????)

Or I could write about how I am trying to sell my truck (BayB is no longer running so she needs to find a new home with someone who can get her running again).

I have a new job, a new car, and beginning a new life. Where do I begin on writing about that? (yeah, yeah, the whole “you are right now” thing.)

All of these are good subjects and I think I will write about them this weekend.

For now. It is time for bed since I am nodding off as I type. Pictures of the view from my new digs tomorrow.

G’Night.

Lenten Blogging

2009-02-25T18:40:00.000-05:00

So, I was driving into work this morning and trying to decide what to do for lent this year. I believe that lent is a time of change, a time of transformation, a time of letting go of old. Sometimes it is even a time of welcoming the new. I don’t believe in giving something up just for giving something up. I believe that sacrifice should bring us closer to Spirit.

My first Lent I was living in downtown Washington DC. I did not own a car at that time and found that I had begun to take way too many taxi’s around town. Basically I was spending wayyy to much money on this type of thing when I had full access to the DC Metro as well as the bus service. There really was no excuse for the amount of taxi rides I was taking (mostly to and from work, normally a 30 minute metro ride). So, for my first lent I decided to give up taking a taxi unless there was no other way to get to where I was going or it was a serious time sensitive emergency. If you think that was easy let me tell you it was hard! I would leave work, exhausted, just wanting a quick 6 minute ride home. That was not to be. I would take the 30 minute metro ride home instead.

That Lenten season helped me break a bad habit that I had fallen into. (The irony was that it wasn’t till near the end of that season that I learned that you could “indulge” on Sunday. LOL) I got back into taking the metro and back into walking.

Over the years I have made it through other Lenten seasons but none have been as powerful as that first one. In part, I think, because I was just sacrificing for the sake of sacrifice. Not really using it as a way to grow and learn. Other years I have skipped it completely because I was either too busy to really do lent or that it snuck up on me, or that I was in the midst of serious flux, or any number of other reasons. This year, although lent did sneak up on me, I did at least see it coming last week and could prepare a bit.

This brings me back to this morning. Driving into work and thinking about what I wanted to do for this Lenten season.

I thought about giving something up. That didn’t feel right.
I thought about starting a few things. That was closer but not quite it.

Then it hit me.

Lenten Blogging!

I have been feeling quite bad that my life went nuts about 7 months ago and then I stopped blogging on a regular basis. Just when I was starting to get a bit of a following too. (smacks self in head again!!!) I have been feeling incredibly guilty that I haven’t blogged at all for a looooong time much less on a regular basis. (Truth to tell, I haven’t had time to follow my favorite blogs either so…) I have a good excuse. I changed jobs, lost my truck, got a new(er) vehicle and moved to a different state. I have been busy, really. No, really!

But I digress… (wink ((NOT THE SARAH PALIN KIND!!!)) to the original fans out there!)

BUT, I digress again…

Driving in this morning I decided that I would blog at least a little bit each and every day till Lent is over. I may skip a Sunday here and there but perhaps I really will go “hard core” and not take that day of indulgence. We shall see.

Keep your fingers crossed and your seatbelts fastened because the frog is back and is going to be blogging her *%& off! (Ok, I know but I work at a place now where I can’t swear in the hallways anymore so sometimes it takes a bit to switch gears.)

Tune in tomorrow for the next installment of Lenten Blogging!

Communication

2008-11-26T12:40:00.000-05:00

Definition of Communication: the process of to impart information from a sender to a receiver with the use of a medium.

The medium most often used are words, either typed in email or spoken. Words can relay information from one to another. Words can also be used to uplift or to beat down. To create or to destroy. Not that I think the world is black and white, far from it.

My point is that this week I have experienced a wide range of words with all their varied intentions. Most of the words I have encountered this week have been mundane. A few have been uplifting and a few have been destructive.

I spent some time with a friend the other night exchanging words in the form of stories about the past weekend, plans for the coming weekend, and funny stuff too. We are both having a tough week this week. Her family of origin and my mom of choice both need a good thwacking. (A huge oversimplification but hey, it is my blog so I get to choose what I put here.) The other night this friend and I discussed how the hurts from our respective families were affecting us. No conclusion reached but a bit of healing for my heart, hopefully for hers too.

I haven’t made the final decision about my MOC (mom of choice for the uninitiated). I don’t know if I am really walking away forever (emotionally if not physically) or if it is just for a little while to heal. I guess it comes down to is she really healthy for me (now or in the future…). However, I feel shitty about taking a cold analytical view at a human relationship, especially one so close for so long.

I should probably give a clue to what happened to get me to this point with MOC. Sunday evening, just after spending 5 hours at a clients house finally getting a laptop in good running order, I went by MOC house to drop off something I had borrowed and to hear about how church went. (yes I go to church…*rolling eyes*) I get there and the first words spoken to me were biting and snarky. Oooook, I think to myself that it is time to bail as fast as possible cause I know what is coming. Long story short I didn’t get the chance to bail politely and ended up getting really hurt later in the evening by just one sentence she spoke. (I think the rest of the working through MOC shit will be in a different post.)

Oi!

Missed words can have an impact too. Another friend missed a one sentence statement that ended up causing a whole shitstorm of stuff. All worked out now but the feelings of regret are there and the lines of communication are still a bit strained. No way for me to comfort this person either… Damn.

Here I am today. Totally burned out from months of dealing with insane/unhealthy birthparents, hearing nothing from my daughter (miss you!!!), still doing the long distance marriage thing, studying Shamanism (more on that in another post cause its time to “come out”) dealing with the emotional turmoil from that, working for people who every day do something to make my work life impossible, getting ready to move-but no not yet-but the move is back on-but oh it is on hold again rollercoaster, while missing my best friend who had to walk in the wilderness for a little while.

I am trying to keep my spirits up but yesterday it was a bit to hard to manage and I crashed out. Today is better. Tomorrow we will see…

I am hopefully going to be spending the weekend camping. Rest, recoup, sort out, do the mental fall cleaning and hopefully make some decisions. Keep your fingers crossed that I can recharge my batteries this weekend.

"An open apology to boomers everywhere"

2008-11-09T23:51:00.003-05:00

I wish I had writen this. It is perfect in capturing my generation's view of the world compaired to Baby Boomers. One of my favorite parts in this piece is "There were smiling families, hugging and learning important lessons on every channel, while at home, our parents threw dishes at each other's heads. We went to church and learned about God's divine plan every Sunday, but all it took was one Dr. Seuss cartoon about an entire world that existed on a speck of dust, and our belief in God was deconstructed in an instant. Our childhoods were one long existential crisis. We ate Happy Meals while watching the space shuttle blow into tiny bits."

Perhaps it is one of my favorites because it does such a good job of summing up my growing up. (Yeah, I watched the shuttle Challanger blow up, not on TV, but from the vantage point of standing in the cold air just outside my school in Orlando Florida.)

Below is the entire article. Please click here for the original posting.

"An open apology to boomers everywhere

Your earnest, self-important prattle has gotten on Gen X nerves for decades. But now we finally get it.

By Heather Havrilesky

Nov. 7, 2008 Dear boomers: We're sorry for rolling our eyes at you all these years. We apologize for scoffing at your earnestness, your lack of self-deprecation, your tendency to take yourselves a little too seriously. We can go ahead and admit now that we grew tired of hearing about the '60s and the peace movement, as if you had to live through those times to understand anything at all. It's true, we didn't completely partake of your idealism and your notions about community. Frankly, it looked gray and saggy in your hands, these many decades later. Chanting "What do we want? Peace! When do we want it? Now!" at that rally against the Iraq war made us feel self-conscious in spite of ourselves. We felt like clichés. We wondered why someone couldn't come up with a newer, catchier, pro-peace slogan over the course of 40 years of protests. We knew we shouldn't care that some of you were wearing socks with sandals and smelled like you'd been on the bus with Wavy Gravy for the last three decades, but we cared anyway. We couldn't help it. It's just who we are.

And look, we really did stand for something, underneath all the eye-rolling. We're feminists, we care about the environment, we want to improve race relations, we volunteer. We're just low-key about it. We never wanted to do it the way you did it: So unselfconscious, so optimistic, guilelessly throwing yourself behind Team Liberal. We didn't get that. We aren't joiners. We don't like carrying signs. We tend to disagree, if only on principle.

But when we watched Barack Obama's victory speech on Tuesday night, we looked into the eyes of a real leader, and decades of cynicism about politics and grass-roots movements and community melted away in a single moment. We heard the voice of a man who can inspire with his words, who's unashamed of his own intelligence, who's willing to treat the citizens of this country like smart, capable people, worthy of respect. For the first time in some of our lifetimes, we believed.

Suddenly it makes sense, what you've been trying to tell us about John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. Sure, we knew all about their roles in history, we'd learned about them in a million classes, through countless books and documentaries. Eventually, though, the endless memorials and tributes and TV specials and Oliver Stone films grew a little tedious. We didn't quite understand why you've never let those two go, why you'd speak so relentlessly about a better time.

But how could we have known? We were raised under Ronald Reagan, smiling emptily under a shellacked cap of shiny brown hair like a demon clown, warning us (With a knowing nod! With a wink!) about those evil Russians stockpiling nuclear arms thousands of miles away. We were raised by "The Love Boat" and "Eight Is Enough" and "Charlie's Angels," a steady flow of saccharine tales with clunky morals. There were smiling families, hugging and learning important lessons on every channel, while at home, our parents threw dishes at each other's heads. We went to church and learned about God's divine plan every Sunday, but all it took was one Dr. Seuss cartoon about an entire world that existed on a speck of dust, and our belief in God was deconstructed in an instant. Our childhoods were one long existential crisis. We ate Happy Meals while watching the space shuttle blow into tiny bits.

You and all your boomer friends read "I'm OK, You're OK," and tried desperately to avoid the mistakes of your parents, those stoic alcoholics of the so-called Greatest Generation. But you couldn't quite put your ideals into motion. As our parents, you told us to tell you anything, to be honest, to come to you with our problems, but when we did, you were uncomfortable and dismissive. You didn't really want to know how we felt. When we were emotional, you flashed back to that time your drunk mother threw the jack-o'-lantern into the street. You loved us, but you were passive-aggressive and avoidant in spite of your best intentions.

You did your best. But we rose out of that murky soup of love and confusion, of stated beliefs without the actions to back them up, and we grew cynical. We doubted even the most heartfelt, genuine statements. We didn't want to be blind to our own faults, like you were, so we paraded our faults around, exalted in our shortcomings. The worst thing, to us, was to not see ourselves clearly. The worst thing was to not be in on the joke.

So we cast a jaded eye on ourselves and each other. We drank too much and listened to obscure indie rock bands. We dressed badly and communicated in four-letter words and read books like "Infinite Jest" and "The Corrections," modern-day versions of your precious J.D. Salinger in which everyone is a fake and the high capitalist world is bought and sold and even the purest form of art is a commodity, not to be taken seriously. No one can be trusted, nothing is pure -- these are the truths we held to be self-evident.

No, we weren't always ready to get involved and make the world a better place, because the air we breathed was toxic with absurdity and excess. Consider our head-spinning trajectory: Mister Rogers, Son of Sam, the Iran hostage crisis, Catholic school, the Hite Report, "The Day After," Edwin Meese, rampant divorce, "Fantasy Island," "Endless Love," Jeffrey Dahmer, the Happy Meal, the Lockerbie air disaster, Toyotathons, John Updike, "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?" Do you see how far we had to come? How we were primed to hate our own country, and ourselves along with it?

And then most of us became mature, rational adults at the exact moment that a reckless frat boy boomer became our president. Just when we were starting to understand how to be a part of the larger world outside, Al Gore had the election stolen right out of his hands in Florida, and then the twin towers collapsed before our eyes. At first we felt moved to act for the greater good in the wake of that tragedy. But then the whole country seemed to implode in front of us, from our invasion of two sovereign nations to the rise of celebrity culture to tanning beds to McMansions to Guantánamo Bay to Hummers and a big, faceless herd of humans in low-rider ass pants, chattering about whether or not to get Botox. It was so sad and pathetic that it was funny to us, even if it was only sad and pathetic to you. We urged you to get a sense of humor; we'd lived this way for years, after all. Things were much worse now, worse than ever -- but we'd always expected that they would be, eventually. That's one of the few rewards of being deeply pessimistic, of being trained to lower our expectations, of living in a constant state of distrust and learned helplessness.

But on Tuesday night, that changed. We understood, for the first time in our lives, what it means to be a part of something big, without reservation. We saw the joy in that. We knew that history had been made, and we were happy to have made calls and sent money and knocked on doors for this man. We felt like we were really, truly participants in history, that we had a connection to those people in the crowd at Grant Park and those kids crying and celebrating in Compton on the local news. We were all Americans, together, old and young, black and white and Latino and Asian, and it didn't feel hokey or overly earnest to admit it for once.

So we apologize to you, for making fun of your earnestness. We never want to go back to our old way of thinking. Sure, we'll still be our irreverent, self-deprecating, exasperating selves, but we also want to believe. We want to follow this man, and trust him, and give him our full support. The world may not be transformed overnight, the economy may still struggle, Obama will surely make his share of mistakes. But we want to stand behind him, stand behind this country, and show our fellow Americans the same respect that this new leader of ours has shown all of us, in his words, in his manner and in his promises.

On Tuesday night, we could all sense, with open hearts, that this man meant what he said. There's no shame in seeing that clearly, together. There's no shame in trusting someone's words, and allowing those words to move and inspire you. There's no shame in throwing ourselves into this new future with full hearts, with tears in our eyes, unselfconsciously.

And in 15 years, our kids probably won't understand it when we talk about the night that Obama was elected president, either. They'll sigh deeply and roll their eyes and say they've heard this story a million times before, so please shut up about it already. They'll purse their lips and think about how our hair looks stupid and we smell like old cheese.

But maybe, just maybe, we can change the world enough that they'll get it. Maybe if we dare to hope, eventually hope won't feel quite so daring."

Should have known...

2008-11-08T08:41:00.002-05:00

Too much time on my hands this morning. Here are some of my favorite songs from when I was coming of age...

Spin me round by Dead or Alive.

Safety Dance by Men without Hats.

I Ran by A Flock of Seagulls

Pale Shelter - Tears for Fears

That last one there didn't get much airtime on the radio but that and Mothers Talk are a couple of my favorites. I am a huge fan of Tears for Fears to this day. Good to know that I am not the only one. *Giggle* (what is it about Tears for Fears fans and metal music??)

Shout 2000 - Disturbed

Stream of Consciousness

2008-11-08T07:52:00.003-05:00

I am at the most interesting time of my current life.

I am healthy.

I am (mostly) free of the mental chains put on me by others.

My finances are still a mess.

I am ok with that.

Mostly.

I have a wonderful mom whom I was not born to.

She may not have given me physical life but she gave me emotional life.

Still does.

I have a daughter I don’t see.

Not by her choice or mine.

That choice was made by the woman who birthed me.

I was just diagnosed with endometriosis.

Been livin with it for years.

Getting treated for it and I feel much better.

I quit smoking 5 months ago the other day.

Yeah, I still miss it.

I quit drinking 5 years and 5 months ago.

Yeah, I still miss it.

I have great people in my life.

Friends who would do SecretSquirrelMissions at the drop of the hat. (bonus fuckeduplink here)

Don’t even need the hat really. (insert Palin wink here)

Friends who would (and have) walked through fire with/for me. (mystickisonfire!!!!)

And some who walked with me that I haven’t talked with in a long time. (Miss you!)

We all journey. Me, not as often as I should.

Journeys are good.

One place to another.

Where am I going?

Where have I been?

Where is my coffee?

There it is!

Now, where are my keys?

Sophie B Hawkins followed by Rush followed by Stevie Ray Vaughn covering Hendrix.

I have weird taste in mix CD’s I create. (insert another Palin wink here)

I should get going and get to mom’s place to help with the store room.

Yeah. Ok. Eventually.

Oh! My ADHD med. I need to go take that!

Nearly free at last...

2008-11-05T02:45:00.003-05:00

Yesterday more than 65,340,608 people judged a man by the content of his character, not by the color of his skin.

Dr. King, here is your dream...

Today I am in an America where I have hope again. Hope for a better time to come. Not immediately but soon.

I decided to paste Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech below. I think we should all read this again, take it to heart, and remember that it was but forty-five short years ago that Dr. King gave this speech on the steps of the Lincoln memorial here in Washington DC.

Forty-Five years, 4 months and 23 days later in the same city, on the other end of the National Mall, the United States of America will innagurate its first Black man as President.

"I Have a Dream" by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

"I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by a sign stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."¹

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."²

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!³

see. . .it's all about perspective.

2008-10-16T11:42:00.002-05:00

My partner, two friends and I were talking about how my partner said I was in a baaaad mood yesterday (click here for more on that) and I had said that I was bitchy yesterday. This was the response from one of the two other friends...

"see. . .it's all about perspective.

Bitchy-ness comes in levels: Normal Bitchy is something akin too "all humans are stupid and I will do my best to ignore you but if you ask me a stupid question, I'm going to give you a bitchy answer (that is usually truth just spoken with attitude)

Yesterdays level of Hyper-Bitch is something closer akin to, "All humans are stupid AND I WANT TO KILL YOU ALL. . . . PAINFULLY" see.

You need to be clear about these things."

I will stop laughing soon. I think... Naaah.

Fou you LittleOne

2008-09-30T06:47:00.001-05:00

I love you. Someday we will see each other.

Governor Sarah Palin Vlog #1

2008-09-13T23:54:00.002-05:00

Comedy break.

Governor Sarah Palin Vlog #1

Go to here to view the rest of them. They are a riot!!

Thank you Margarate Cho for putting her letter on your blog.

Sen. McCain voting record - Now With Commentary!!

2008-09-09T22:59:00.010-05:00

So, because I couldn't help myself I went back and put in my comments. Then I shamelessly stole an idea from Gawd on putting links in the text for more info. If you don't click on any other link in here click on that first one there. Great blog!!!

Anyhoo... as I was saying. I couldn't help myself so I went back and put in my comments from when I was doing the research for the other post. I wanted that one to be just the voting record without my snarkyshit in it. This one on the other hand...

Enjoy!

Senator John McCain voted AGAINST the following amendments:

On Veterans Issues
As much as he spouts on about supporting the troops and supporting veterans he sure has a funny way of showing it… Just sayn’

Tax Rate Extension Amendment - HR 4297 - 02/02/2006
To support the health needs of our veterans and military personnel and reduce the deficit by making tax rates fairer for all Americans.
Amendment Highlights:
- $14 billion for the Veterans Benefits Administration for Compensation and Pensions for the years of 2006 through 2010
- $6.9 billion to the Department of Veterans Affairs for the Veterans Health Administration for Medical Care between the years 2006 through 2010
- $1 billion for the establishment of the Veterans Hospital Improvement Fund
- Modifies tax rates on capital gains and dividends

Notice the date on this one. It is before the scandal about Walter Reed Medical Center broke. You think that $1 Billion would have helped Walter Reed improve their facilities and services?

Oh wait. Yeah, that last line there. Soooo cannot have that changed! What would ~~moneybags~~ Cindy say?

Additional Funding For Veterans Amendment - S 2020 – 11/17/2005
To provide an additional $500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010, to be used for readjustment counseling, related mental health services, and treatment and rehabilitative services for veterans with mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder, or substance use disorder.

Looks like he is saying “screw the mental health of our veterans! PTSD is all in their heads anyway. I survived being a POW, they should be able to suck it up and just deal.” However, I could be wrong…

Health Care for Veterans Amendment - HR 2863 10/05/2005
To ensure that future funding for health care for former members of the Armed Forces takes into account changes in population and inflation.

Oh no! Can’t have health care benefits for vets taking into account inflation. That would be socialized medicine.

On Domestic Security Issues

This one is even better than the shitting on the veterans.

Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 - HR 2082 - 02/13/2008
To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2008 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government, the Community Management Account, and the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and for other purposes.

Nope, no need to fund this.

Striking Telecommunications Companies' Civil Immunity for Surveillance - S Amdt 3907 - 02/12/2008 To strike the provisions providing immunity from civil liability to electronic communication service providers for certain assistance provided to the Government.

Can’t have his corporate ~~donors~~ buddies getting sued for breaking the law now can we.

Habeas Corpus for Detainees of the United States - S Amdt 2022 - 09/19/2007 To restore habeas corpus for those detained by the United States.

Oh, this would be REALLY dangerous. I mean, what would happen if we actually used the Constitution and rule of law to handle the scarwwy terwwawists??? My god, it would be mayhem and there would be no stopping them after that.

Denying Legal Status for Immigrants Convicted of Certain Crimes - S Amdt 1184 - 06/06/2007 To establish a permanent bar for gang members, terrorists, and other criminals.
Project Vote Smart's Synopsis:
Vote to pass an amendment that would prohibit undocumented immigrants convicted of aggravated felonies, domestic violence, stalking, violation of protection orders, crimes against children, or crimes relating to the illegal purchase or sale of firearms, from gaining legal status.

So, its ok to have illegal immigrants gain legal status after being convicted of felonies, domestic violence, stalking, etc…?? I guess this explains the choosing of someone who bills rape victims for the cost of the rape kit processing as running mate. Simple minds think alike.

Security of Cargo Containers Amendment - HR 4954 - 09/13/2006 To improve the security of cargo containers destined for the United States. Highlights of Cargo Containers Amendment: Vote to adopt an amendment that requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop a plan for guaranteeing 100 percent of all cargo containers that pass through U.S. ports are scanned. The plan must include annual goals for increases in the percentages of cargo being screened.

Securing Cargo Containers just wouldn’t do. Nuh uh. Nope. I mean, “we are never going to let 9/11 happen again” right? “Because we are going to elect a president who knows how to fight the war on terror” right? Right???

National Security Amendment - HR 4954 - 09/12/2006 To provide real national security, restore United States leadership, and implement tough and smart policies to win the war on terror. Amendment Highlights: -Establishes national standards and parameters for First Responder, equipment and training (Sec. 1807 and Sec. 1113) -Sets privacy guidelines for government sharing of personal information (Sec. 1213) -Creates security clearance standards (Sec. 1241) -Calls for an increase of hiring and training of border security personnel (Sec. 2313) -Places a prohibition on war profiteering (Sec. 2402)

I just don’t know where to begin on this one. Hmmm… item one there, First responder equipment and training. That would be like, radios that work right? Not like the radios the firefighters had on 9/11 right?

That third one there, hmmmm, nope. Don’t need security clearance standards. What would we do with those? We just know who to trust.

*Snort* Yeah, that last one there. I am betting that this is why this one got a no vote from Senator McCain.

Disclosure of Classified Information Amendment - HR 2360 - 07/14/2005 To prohibit Federal employees who disclose classified information to persons not authorized to receive such information from holding a security clearance.

This has nothing to do with White House aid indictments. Nothing. Move along….

Corporate Financing of Terrorism Amendment - S 1042 - 07/26/2005
To stop corporations from financing terrorism.
Amendment Highlights:
- Allows the President to use his powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act or the Trading with the Enemy Act to prohibit U.S. businesses and their subsidiaries from transacting with foreign businesses identified as having links to terrorism
- Forbids U.S. businesses and their subsidiaries from engaging in transactions with any foreign business whose parent country has been identified by the Secretary of State as a supporter of international terrorism
- Requires the President to publish a list of foreign businesses identified as having links to terrorism, and bans U.S. ownership or control of foreign businesses engaged in transactions with such businesses
- Exempts U.S. businesses from prosecution if transactions are terminated within one year after a foreign business is identified as having links to terrorism
- Calls for U.S. businesses to disclose in their annual reports any ownership stake of at least 10 percent in a foreign business that is itself engaging in transactions with a proscribed foreign business

Well, shit! We really cannot have the corporations being accountable for possibly funding terrorism. That will not do!

On Business and Consumer Issues

Price-Gouging During Emergencies Amendment - S 2020 - 11/17/2005
To improve the Federal Trade Commission's ability to protect consumers from price-gouging during energy emergencies, and for other purposes.
Amendment Highlights:
- Sets the civil penalty for charging prices grossly above the original price of crude oil, gasoline, or petroleum during a declared state of emergency of no more than $3 million
- Sets the criminal penalty for charging prices grossly above the original price of crude oil, gasoline, or petroleum during a declared state of emergency at a maximum of five years in prison, a $3 million penalty or both
- Authorizes the Federal Trade Commission to enforce this act

Do I really need to say anything on this one??? Yes. Yes I do. Only a total fucking fucktard would vote against this one. Geeez.

More tomorrow. I have already spent waaaaay too much time on putting all of this together and I need some sleep. Thanks to my friend for the "fucking fucktard" line. She says that all the time and I have just been waiting to use it somewhere on this blog.

Highlights of Sen. McCain's voting record

2008-09-09T21:18:00.010-05:00

Senator McCain has an interesting voting record given what he is saying on the campaign trail. All of these details were gathered from Project Vote Smart, a non partisan website that posts the voting records of all candidates for public office. Click here to see more on Project Vote Smart.

Senator John McCain voted AGAINST the following amendments:

On Veterans Issues

Tax Rate Extension Amendment - HR 4297 - 02/02/2006
To support the health needs of our veterans and military personnel and reduce the deficit by making tax rates fairer for all Americans.
Amendment Highlights:
- $14 billion for the Veterans Benefits Administration for Compensation and Pensions for the years of 2006 through 2010
- $6.9 billion to the Department of Veterans Affairs for the Veterans Health Administration for Medical Care between the years 2006 through 2010
- $1 billion for the establishment of the Veterans Hospital Improvement Fund
- Modifies tax rates on capital gains and dividends

Additional Funding For Veterans Amendment - S 2020 – 11/17/2005
To provide an additional $500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010, to be used for readjustment counseling, related mental health services, and treatment and rehabilitative services for veterans with mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder, or substance use disorder.

Health Care for Veterans Amendment - HR 2863 10/05/2005
To ensure that future funding for health care for former members of the Armed Forces takes into account changes in population and inflation.

On Domestic Security Issues

Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 - HR 2082 - 02/13/2008 To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2008 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government, the Community Management Account, and the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and for other purposes.

FISA as Exclusive Means for Conducting Electronic Surveillance - S Amdt 3910 - 02/12/2008
To provide a statement of the exclusive means by which electronic surveillance and interception of certain communications may be conducted.

Striking Telecommunications Companies' Civil Immunity for Surveillance - S Amdt 3907 - 02/12/2008 To strike the provisions providing immunity from civil liability to electronic communication service providers for certain assistance provided to the Government.

Habeas Corpus for Detainees of the United States - S Amdt 2022 - 09/19/2007
To restore habeas corpus for those detained by the United States.

Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2008 - HR 3093 - 10/16/2007 Making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, and Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2008, and for other purposes.

Denying Legal Status for Immigrants Convicted of Certain Crimes - S Amdt 1184 - 06/06/2007 To establish a permanent bar for gang members, terrorists, and other criminals.
Project Vote Smart's Synopsis:
Vote to pass an amendment that would prohibit undocumented immigrants convicted of aggravated felonies, domestic violence, stalking, violation of protection orders, crimes against children, or crimes relating to the illegal purchase or sale of firearms, from gaining legal status.

Security of Cargo Containers Amendment - HR 4954 - 09/13/2006 To improve the security of cargo containers destined for the United States.
Highlights of Cargo Containers Amendment:
Vote to adopt an amendment that requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop a plan for guaranteeing 100 percent of all cargo containers that pass through U.S. ports are scanned. The plan must include annual goals for increases in the percentages of cargo being screened.

National Security Amendment - HR 4954 - 09/12/2006
To provide real national security, restore United States leadership, and implement tough and smart policies to win the war on terror.
Amendment Highlights:
-Establishes national standards and parameters for First Responder, equipment and training (Sec. 1807 and Sec. 1113)
-Sets privacy guidelines for government sharing of personal information (Sec. 1213)
-Creates security clearance standards (Sec. 1241)
-Calls for an increase of hiring and training of border security personnel (Sec. 2313)
-Places a prohibition on war profiteering (Sec. 2402)

Rail and Transit Security Amendment - HR 5441 - 07/12/2006 To increase the amounts for the rail and transit security programs, and for other purposes.

Disclosure of Classified Information Amendment - HR 2360 - 07/14/2005
To prohibit Federal employees who disclose classified information to persons not authorized to receive such information from holding a security clearance.

Corporate Financing of Terrorism Amendment - S 1042 - 07/26/2005 To stop corporations from financing terrorism.
Amendment Highlights:
- Allows the President to use his powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act or the Trading with the Enemy Act to prohibit U.S. businesses and their subsidiaries from transacting with foreign businesses identified as having links to terrorism
- Forbids U.S. businesses and their subsidiaries from engaging in transactions with any foreign business whose parent country has been identified by the Secretary of State as a supporter of international terrorism
- Requires the President to publish a list of foreign businesses identified as having links to terrorism, and bans U.S. ownership or control of foreign businesses engaged in transactions with such businesses
- Exempts U.S. businesses from prosecution if transactions are terminated within one year after a foreign business is identified as having links to terrorism
- Calls for U.S. businesses to disclose in their annual reports any ownership stake of at least 10 percent in a foreign business that is itself engaging in transactions with a proscribed foreign business

On Business and Consumer Issues

Union Organization Bill - HR 800 - 06/26/2007
To amend the National Labor Relations Act to establish an efficient system to enable employees to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to provide for mandatory injunctions for unfair labor practices during organizing efforts, and for other purposes.

Price-Gouging During Emergencies Amendment - S 2020 - 11/17/2005
To improve the Federal Trade Commission's ability to protect consumers from price-gouging during energy emergencies, and for other purposes.
Amendment Highlights:
- Sets the civil penalty for charging prices grossly above the original price of crude oil, gasoline, or petroleum during a declared state of emergency of no more than $3 million
- Sets the criminal penalty for charging prices grossly above the original price of crude oil, gasoline, or petroleum during a declared state of emergency at a maximum of five years in prison, a $3 million penalty or both
- Authorizes the Federal Trade Commission to enforce this act

McCain didn’t bother to vote on the following amendments. Not voting does not mean he wasn't there, it means just what it says, he didn't vote on the amendment or bill in question. Pay special attention to the first one on the list.

For Veterans
GI Bill and Other Domestic Provisions - S Amdt 4803 - 05/22/2008

Defense Authorizations Bill - HR 4986 - 01/22/2008

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 - HR 1585 - 10/01/2007

On Domestic Security
Limiting Mexican Trucks to Commercial Zones Near the Border Between the U.S. and Mexico - S Amdt 2797 - 09/11/2007
To prohibit the establishment of a program that allows Mexican truck drivers to operate beyond the commercial zones near the Mexican border.

Foreign Intelligence Acquisition - S 1927 - 08/03/2007

Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act - HR 1 - 07/26/2007

Department of Homeland Security Appropriations - HR 2638 - 07/26/2007

Border Fence and Customs Appropriations - S Amdt 2480 - 07/26/2007

REAL ID Funding - S Amdt 2405 - 07/26/2007

Inclusion of Consolidated Appropriations - HR 2764 - 12/18/2007
Making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2008, and for other purposes.
Selected Bill Highlights:
- Prohibits funds made available in this Act from being used "in any way whatsoever to support or justify the use of torture, cruel or inhumane treatment by any official or contract employee of the United States Government" (Division B, Sec. 521; Division J, Sec. 681).
- Directs the President to submit a report to Congress that outlines in classified and unclassified terms a comprehensive nuclear threat reduction plan for ensuring that all nuclear weapons and weapons-usable material at vulnerable sites are secure by 2012 (Division J, Sec. 699M).

Supplemental Appropriations for the Department of Defense and Timeline for Withdrawal from Iraq - HR 4156 - 11/16/2007

Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for the Department of Defense - S 2340 - 11/16/2007

On Business and Consumer Issues

Consumer Product Safety Commission Bill - HR 4040 - 07/31/2008

Medicare Bill - HR 6331 - 07/15/2008
To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to extend expiring provisions under the Medicare Program, to improve beneficiary access to preventive and mental health services, to enhance low-income benefit programs, and to maintain access to care in rural areas, including pharmacy access, and for other purposes.

Alternative Energy Tax Incentives - HR 6049 - 06/17/2008

Increasing Taxes on Profits, Rescinding Certain Tax Deductions, and Increasing Tax Incentives for Alternative Energy Programs for Oil Companies - S 3044 - 06/10/2008

Carbon Emissions Cap and Trade Plan - S Amdt 4825 - 06/06/2008

Housing Bill with Energy Tax Credit Extensions - HR 3221 - 04/10/2008

Energy Tax Credits Amendment - S Amdt 4419 to S Amdt 4387 to HR 3221 - 04/10/2008

Amendment on Certain Energy-Related Programs, Including the Development of Oil Shale and Offshore Natural Gas - S Amdt 4207 to S Con Res 70 - 03/13/2008
To establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund to improve energy efficiency and production.
Highlights:
- Allows the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee to revise spending levels on certain energy-related programs in a manner to encourage the replacement of conventional wood stoves, the use of smart electricity meters in homes and businesses, the capture and storage of carbon dioxide emission from coal projects, the development of natural gas resources beneath the outer Continental Shelf off the coast of Virginia, and the development of oil shale resources on public land, so long as the spending level changes do not increase the federal deficit over both the five year and the ten year time spans starting with 2008.

Energy Act of 2007 - HR 6 - 12/13/2007
An Act to move the United States toward greater energy independence and security, to increase the production of clean renewable fuels, to protect consumers, to increase the efficiency of products, buildings, and vehicles, to promote research on and deploy greenhouse gas capture and storage options, and to improve the energy performance of the Federal Government, and for other purposes.
Highlights of Energy Act of 2007:
-Increases Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) to 35 miles per gallon by the year 2020 (Sec. 102).
-Requires a minimum standard of 27.5 miles per gallon for domestic passenger vehicles (Sec. 102).
-Requires an increase in the production of renewable fuels from 4.0 billion gallons to 36.0 billion gallons by 2022 (Sec. 202).
-Stipulates that all renewable fuel refineries built after enactment of this bill reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 percent of the current baseline (Sec. 202).
-Increases energy efficiency standards for certain household appliances, battery chargers, walk-in coolers and freezers, electric motors, light bulbs, and other devices (Title III).
- Establishes the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Worker Training Program to provide training to veterans, unemployed individuals, and workers impacted by energy and environmental policies (Sec. 1002).

Alternative Energy Subsidies - S Amdt 1704 - 06/21/2007

Love or eating bacon

2008-08-29T05:11:00.003-05:00

My parents demanded during visitation negotiations today, that I not expose my kid to the homosexual lifestyle due to the immorality of being gay.

Hmmmm….

Whatever do they mean by Homosexual lifestyle? Do they mean me doing my dishes? Do they mean me working on my truck? What exactly in my lifestyle is homosexual? Shit, what exactly in my lifestyle ISN'T gay???

If they are talking about my wife and I having a committed relationship, loving and supporting each other even when we are living in different cities, forsaking all others till death we do part, sleeping at night in the same bed when we are visiting each other, well, then…

There are only three verses in the Bible dealing with homosexuality (two in the Old Testament – Here and Here and one in the New Testament – Here. Out of all of the verses in the Bible dealing with how to and when to worship God, how to live, stories and whatnot, these three are the ones focused on. Usually the ones about how we are to care for our neighbor, love one another, love God, and not judge, get missed and glossed over.

My parents, who have said “we need more family values in this house!!” (but then couldn’t explain exactly what those were when I asked) have cheated on each other repeatedly. My father drinks (a lot) and verbally abuses my mother. My mother verbally abuses my father and my kid. Ditto for dad about verbal abuse and the kid when he drinks. My mother is the worst kind of “keep up with the joneses” type of person and is obsessed with what the neighbors think.

I am not perfect. Not by a long shot. However, I am not throwing around accusations of immoral lifestyle based on a narrow interpretation of the Bible that I know they have not read nearly cover to cover as I have.

So, if we are going to use Biblical law here, lets have some fun shall we.

My parents are exposing my kid to an immoral lifestyle daily by wearing mixed fabric clothing (http://scripturetext.com/leviticus/19-19.htm), being drunken (http://multilingualbible.com/1_corinthians/6-10.htm), my mother never covering her head when she prays (1 Corinthians 11:4-7), and eating bacon (http://multilingualbible.com/leviticus/11-7.htm).

I am tempted to call my lawyer and tell her that I want all of the above fixed before my kid can stay in that house. After all, what really is the worse sin here, love or eating bacon.

Lesbian in a man’s body

2008-08-15T00:32:00.002-05:00

I get this call from a friend of mine tonight. “That gift that he wanted to drop off? It was a dozen roses! Son of a Bitch!”

My friend had two dates with a man that I will call Lisa. This is in reference to the L Word character that billed himself as a lesbian in a man’s body. I thought that was just something funny made up by the writers of the show. Shit was I wrong. He does exist and my friend ended up on two dates with this man.

F and I went to lunch last week and she was telling me about this man that she went out with two times and how he really was not compatible with her. I asked her what she meant. She said that he would open the car door for her, make sure to open all other doors for her and generally drove her a bit nutty with the door and uber nice thing he had going on. She described asking him not to open the doors anymore as being like kicking a puppy. It sucked.

So, she decided that she would just back off and do the subtle thing on ending something that never really began. Not go on any more dates with Lisa and be generally unavailable when he called.

This… has not worked as planned.

Over the last week Lisa has been calling F each day or so. She has either not answered, or has let Lisa know that she is busy. F even told Lisa a mostlytrue thing that she was swamped for the weekend and would not be able to get together. (This was mostlytrue because F did have work to get done but there was downtime too). Lisa apparently then called F’s friend in another city and said that F was having a bad weekend and asked what a good gift for F would be.

A few things to know about F. She is a former Army medic, who is very bright, leans toward the tomboy side, and likes things that are different, or unusual, or interesting or just weird. Weird in a good way though. Weird in a “hmmm hadn’t thought of a Venus fly trap as a gift” kind of way. More like different. Well, shit. She is a friend of mine so you get the idea.

Do… not… give… cliché… gifts… to… her… ever… unless you like having your arm painfully removed from your body and then be beaten with it. (She is a medic so at least she can patch you back up after the arm removal and beating processes. That is unless you have really pissed her off, then well.) However (much as she hates to admit it) she has a good heart and while she has those times where she would like to remove your arm and beat you with it, usually she does not.

Back to this past weekend. After Lisa called the mutual friend to find out what a good gift for F would be, Lisa then called F and said that he had something for her. She tried to avoid receiving said gift to avoid any possibility of encouraging Lisa, however, Lisa thwarted her at the pass. Lisa stopped by tonight and dropped off the gift.

The gift being a dozen roses.

That is where this entry begins. With her calling me tonight to say:

“That gift that he wanted to drop off?!? It was a dozen roses! Son of a Bitch.” I promptly bust the fuck out laughing. After struggling to stop laughing, then apologizing for laughing, then giggling for a little while longer while apologizing for it at the same time, I was finally able to ask her for more information.

She said “I see why he dropped them off, they are starting to wilt.” I said “they aren’t in water?” she said, “Nope, still in the shitty plastic from the store.”

Ok, so cliché roses aren’t enough. Lisa, is also unimaginative.

“And” F says “they aren’t red, they are more of a pinkish color.” Jebus H Crust on a stick, not only is Lisa unimaginative, he is also unobservant. Anyone who spends five minutes with F would realize that pink is just not the color to give to F. Nearly any other color would be better than pink. In fact I can’t think of a woman who would really groove on not-red-sorta-pink roses.

Later I offered to call Lisa and have that “dude, she just isn’t into you” conversation. I offered this because F is rapidly losing the ability to “let down gently” and I don’t want the guilt to follow her around. Whatever immediate satisfaction she would get just wouldn’t be worth it.

But then, I lost my nerve… I am not good at the let down easy and I have little patience right now due to things I have written about over in the dark blog.

So… I am hoping against all hope that dude finally gets a clue and tries to find someone out there that will enjoy opening the car doors and red-sorta-pink roses left on doorsteps.

Anyone know anyone like that?

Two years later

2008-07-18T21:53:00.002-05:00

I have been blogging for two years?

Really?

Holy Shit!

Doesn't seem that long does it?

I just read some of my first posts and I realize that I really need to get back to that type of writing. The post Mindfuck is one of my favorites. There are others that are fun as well. Seems that I lost the touch of playing with color and font type too.

Perhaps after I take a spin through the dark side and clean out my head a bit I will be able to write that fun (and funny) stuff again.

Keep your fingers crossed.

Don't Worry...

2008-07-16T21:53:00.004-05:00

More navel gazing coming soon. In the mean time... you can entertain yourself over at the dark blog for a little while.

Caution though.... It is where I keep the dark thoughts and hard stuff.

www.drkfrg.blogspot.com

Debate space

2008-02-29T09:49:00.001-05:00

I haven't posted here in a while. Been busy and all... more soon.

I wanted to post this entry quickly to give space to a debate I am having with someone. :-)

More later...

Rise up my Sisters and Brothers!!

2007-12-30T21:31:00.000-05:00

Freedom! Lakota Sioux Indians Declare Sovereign Nation Status

Threaten Land Liens, Contested Real Estate Over Five State Area in U.S.West Dakota Territory Reverts back to Lakota Control According to U.S., International Law

WASHINGTON, DC - December 20 - Lakota Sioux Indian representatives declared sovereign nation status today in Washington D.C. following Monday's withdrawal from all previously signed treaties with the United States Government. The withdrawal, hand delivered to Daniel Turner, Deputy Director of Public Liaison at the State Department, immediately and irrevocably ends all agreements between the Lakota Sioux Nation of Indians and the United States Government outlined in the 1851 and 1868 Treaties at Fort Laramie Wyoming.

The rest of the article is here

I want to say congratulations to the Lakota people. The obstacles they face out there are many and sometimes subtle. Imagine working for people that call you plains-nigger. Those are the people who would hire you if you go off the reservation to find a job. That is, if they would hire you at all. This leads to people being dependant on food subsidies. The food subsidies that the US Government (USG) sends to the Lakota are high in sugar. This would not mean much but for the fact that Native Americans have a much higher rate of Diabeties than the white population.

Diabetics shouldn't have high sugar food, it tends to end up in blindness and losing a foot or two then ultimately death. The average life expectancy for men on the reservation is 44 years old. That is the lowest life expectancy in the WORLD if you exclude HIV/AIDS. This is happening right here in America.

I can't describe very well what this means to me, someone who is of Cherokee descent. It is exciting and a little scary. I see this as another time for freedom but I also know that the US Government and especially this administration does not look kindly on uppity people. They prefer to have people quietly go into death.

I am praying that they have peace and hope and LIFE.

Here is the link to the Republic of Lakota webpage. http://www.republicoflakota.com/

Fucking Verizon

2007-12-30T21:08:00.000-05:00

Just as a reminder. Verizon is one of the telecom companies asking Congress for immunity for handing over phone and other records to the Department of Homland Security WITHOUT a warrent.

Original story was posted here http://www.network.bestfriends.org/pennsylvania/news/20944.html

Verizon Disconnects 2 Lives
Phone company's foot-dragging stymies police, owner in search for dog's torturers

by Stu Bykofsky, Philadelphia Daily News.

THE LAST TIME Bill Whiting heard his little brown dog, she was screaming in pain as t wo miserable bastards tortured her. Whiting heard this over the phone as the two monsters demanded money to return the Beagle mix.Her name was Edna, and she was so gentle that Whiting took her to hospitals, where patients cheered up as they petted her. Edna had pointed bunny ears, warm brown eyes and was Whiting's "constant companion" since he adopted her a decade ago. She had never known anything but kindness from human hands. Whiting made sure that Edna always wore her collar. Attached to her collar were her vaccination tags, showing she was a healthy dog, and her name tag with Whiting's information, showing she was a loved dog.

When Edna walked, her tags jingled.Whiting heard the jingling over his Verizon phone as Edna screamed in pain. Terrorized, he couldn't imagine what the savages were doing to his little brown dog. He just wanted it to stop - and when he wanted help from Verizon, it came very slowly and at a steep price.Edna disappeared on Halloween night. A Center City resident, Whiting was visiting a friend in the Italian Market area, and he brought Edna along, because Edna went everywhere with him.That evening, with the doorbell being rung every few minutes by trick-or-treaters, Edna somehow slipped out, maybe to follow some children, because she was a friendly and trusting dog.When Whiting noticed she was missing, he frantically ran up and down the narrow South Philly streets, whistling and calling her name. The next morning he put up fliers with her picture, his cell-phone number and the promise of a $500 reward for her return. Whiting hoped anyone finding her would call, either out of the goodness of his heart or desire for the reward.He waited vainly for 10 days, heart-sick and physically sick over Edna.

Then, late at night on Nov. 10, the phone rang and he could hardly believe what he heard. He heard two voices that sounded male and young. The first said he was 16, his brother was 9 and they had his dog. He wanted Whiting, 57, who works for the University of Pennsylvania's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, to talk with his brother.At first, Whiting says he could barely understand the younger boy, speaking in what he described as "American ghetto slang." Whiting slowly realized the boy wanted $600 to ransom Edna. "I was to bring cash, by myself," at midnight to a location Whiting could not decipher.Whiting agreed to pay the money but not to a midnight meeting. "They said they wanted the money now, and told me they'd kill the dog, repeating, 'You don't believe me, Mister, let me hurt it so you can hear.' "Whiting heard Edna yelp in pain. When he heard the jingling of her tags, Whiting knew they had his beloved little brown dog."I couldn't believe how evil he was," says Whiting. "He said, 'You know, Mister, I want to kill your dog.' "Whiting pleaded with them not to hurt Edna, offering to give them even more than $600 if they would keep Edna safe until the morning. The line went dead. Whiting immediately called 911 and Philadelphia police took the complaint seriously, entering it as extortion.A few hours later, at 3 a.m., Whiting got a second call from one of the monsters. "I've killed your dog, it's dead," he said. The call came in on Whiting's land line, which was listed on Edna's name tag but not on the fliers he had posted everywhere.Later that morning, Whiting tried to find the phone number the extortionists had used. He called his service provider, Verizon, to tell them to release his phone records to police, but it wasn't that simple."I made about five calls and kept getting people who were good at passing the hot potato," Whiting says.

He was told police know the procedure.The detective working the case, who asked me not to use his name, says he got a search warrant and faxed it to Verizon on Nov. 16, but it took 12 days before he got a list of calls made to Whiting. The city was charged $150 for the search.

Verizon charged police $150?

In most cases, says Verizon spokesman Lee Gierczynski, "the company charges no fee or a nominal one," but in a "very small percentage of cases, Verizon will charge reimbursement fees for gathering information it does not routinely maintain."The fee covers some of Verizon's costs and it makes no profit, he says. In a wired world, I find both the slow service and the high cost hard to swallow. A crime has been committed. Another police source tells me the service is no better for other crimes, such as kidnapping, when time is crucial.In Edna's case, the detective says, he must now get another search warrant to connect the phone numbers he has to subscribers. He couldn't say what the charge would be or how long it would take. More delay and more expense.

Bill Whiting believes Edna was heartlessly killed by the savages who called him. (You see her picture. If you recall seeing someone with the dog, call police detectives at 215-686-3093 or -3094.) Whiting will live for a long time, maybe forever, with the pain of hearing his little brown dog tortured. But he doesn't want Edna to have died in vain. As her legacy, he wants the phone companies to act faster and cheaper. He thinks telecommunications companies should provide free assistance to police "as a public service. It's not like they have a narrow profit margin." He's right. Who'll get the ball rolling? Another story on Edna was also posted on the South Philly Review website.

A video of Bill speaking about the situation was posted on ksn.com

Contact the Mayor of Philadelphia to express your concerns about the situation and how the Mayor intends to address it.

Executive Office of the Mayor
Room 215 City Hall
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-686-2181
E-mail: mayor@phila.gov

Contact the Police Department of Philadelphia to express your concerns about how the Police have handled this case so far.

Sylvester M. Johnson, Police Commissioner
Philadelphia Police Department
One Franklin Square
Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-686-1776215-686-3053

Managing Director, Loree Jones, 215-686-3480

Barbara Kopecki, Assistant Managing Director 215-686-3482

Contact Verizon to express your concerns about their policies.
Ivan Seidenberg, Chairman & CEO
Verizon Communications
140 West Street
New York, NY 10007
800-621-9900

William B. Petersen, President Verizon - Pennsylvania
1717 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103

or

Jim Reed, Director - External Affairs, Southeastern (Counties: Philadelphia)
Verizon-Pennsylvania
215-466-4838
james.a.reed@verizon.com

Ten Years

2007-11-23T15:52:00.000-05:00

What were you doing ten years ago?

I had just driven from Chicago to Washington DC to join up with my parents before continuing on to North Carolina for a Thanksgiving family reunion.

That trip to DC would change my life forever…

Before that trip I was a conservative Fundamentalist Christian. Now… well, if you have read my blog before you know what I believe today.

I went to DC having no idea that I would step over a line I had drawn for myself and end up setting myself free.

“Freedom is just another word for nothin’ left to lose”
Janice Joplin

Janice baby you spoke the truth.

Ten years ago today I kissed a woman for the first time. My fate really was sealed with a kiss. How many of you can say that?

Leading up to that was an entire evening of talking. Talking to her about how I wanted to kiss her. How she wanted to kiss me. How scared we were. What did it mean to each of us? What would happen?

Then, after hours and hours of talking it to death we went for a walk. On that walk, I finally decided to just do it. I stopped us and on a sidewalk on Capitol Hill we kissed.

Lest you think it was full of birds singing and other romantic things let me tell you it was scary.

and

Wonderful.

It was “Holy SHIT! I am kissing a woman. What the hell am I doing?” and “I don’t care that I am kissing a woman” with a smidge of “Oh my God this is awesome!” tossed in for good measure. All happening at the same time.

In that decision to cross that line, I knew I was turning a corner. I knew nothing would be the same. No matter if I went back into the closet I would still have done it. I would still have tried it. God would know.

I prayed that God would forgive me.

She explained to me later that there was nothing to forgive. This is the path I was to be on.

So, here I am Ten years later, sitting in a lesbian coffee shop in St. Louis writing this.

Fucking wow!

During these last ten years I have been through experiences and changes that I could not have even imagined ten years and two days ago. I lost my daughter but after waiting a few years I gained a beautiful young lady. I lost my lover but gained a partner. I lost my family but gained people who love me for me, not expectations (including some I am related to by blood). I lost a GOD but gained a relationship with Spirit. I lost my mind but found my freedom. I lost “everything” and gained so much more.

I am stuck today looking back. I see what lead up to that moment ten years ago, on a sidewalk in DC. I look at the following years with their crushing, heart breaking pain and wonder to myself why I waited so long. I understand that time and place come together to create an event. I get that. However, I still ask why I waited (read suffered) so long. Suffering for the beliefs of others that I had imbibed.

Ten years ago I believed that homosexuality was nearly the worst sin I could commit. I believed that it was wrong, a choice, perversion, and of the devil. I believed that it was a direct path to a miserable life and ultimately ends up with a permanent separation from God. I hated fags. I would drive through Dupont Circle in Washington DC and despise the fags and queers that congregated there. I supported churches that actively worked to limit the “spread” of homosexuality.

I also knew in the farthest, darkest bottom back corner of my heart I was gay.

“Freedom is just another word for nothin’ left to lose”
Janice Joplin

I decided that I had nothing left to lose that day. Thank Spirit that I decided that!

So, today, the day after Thanksgiving 2007, I sit here thankful. Heart exploding thankfulness for freedom, love, passion, comfort, care, support, laughter, tears and HOPE. Things are not perfect but, I appreciate how much BETTER they are these ten years later…

Our way of life

2007-10-17T07:01:00.000-05:00

I realized this morning that we in the US have always expected something for nothing.

Up till the mid 19th century we had “free” labor in the form of slaves.

From the mid 19th century through the 20th century we had “free” labor in the form of cheep and plentiful fuels to replace the slaves.

In the latter part of the 20th century into the beginning of the 21st, we have “free” labor in the form of immigrants from south of the border.

This has given all of us a sense of “something for nothing” and for a select few “entitlement.”

However

The direct cost of slavery was high. Higher than any of us alive today can fully appreciate. We can read about it, we can empathize to an extent, but we cannot fully know. Thank God for that. We have been paying the price for slavery for a long time now, but some of us don’t really feel it. Some of us who live in the white world are not even aware that the cost is still going on. That we are not entirely free of slavery. The chains have just faded. The chains these days are now prison bars, subtle racism that most do not realize they have, sequestered neighborhoods were poverty is encouraged and hope killed at every opportunity, the inability to say “I love you“ to people you love. The sounds of the chains clanking are the sound of car doors locking when a proud black man walks by, the lack of color in management of corporate US, the attitude of fear. Yet, slavery doesn’t exist anymore…

The cost of cheep and plentiful fuels are beginning to be felt. The missing fall weather, the drowned Polar Bears, the loss of entire species, the asthma, the deserts. We all grew up in an age where things were easy. It didn’t cost much to run your car, heat your home, cool your home, and read late at night. We separated ourselves from the earth in doing these things. Our feet did not touch mother earth, our bodies did not experience the climate directly, and we have divorced ourselves from natural rhythms of wakefulness and rest.

The cost of exploitation of our southern brothers and sisters will be felt later. I don’t know what form that is but it is coming.

We are looking for ways to continue our way of life when the fuel runs out. This is a mistake. The idea of “continuing our way of life” lead to devastating results in the mid 19th century that we STILL haven’t fixed. Jim Crow laws, lynching to keep the uppity niggers in line, less pay for equal work, and separate but equal “education” are all ways they came up with to continue their way of life.

We cannot continue our current way of life because this was built on “something for nothing” and that doesn’t exist. “Our way of life” is exploitative and must change.

Please do not get the impression that I am excluding myself from the above. I am just as guilty of these things and I enjoy my comforts. However, each day I become more aware of the cost I am asking others to pay for MY comforts. The lower cost vegetables at the grocery store because the workers were not paid a living wage, the cost to the environment of having comfort in my home and a solitary commute some days, the beauty of the buildings here in DC that were built by slave hands without thanking the slaves for their work are all ways that I fall short.

I hope that just being aware is enough for now. I sincerely hope that I will learn to live without my “comforts” by choice before it is a necessity and that I don’t fall into the trap of continuing our way of life.

Scary, so scary that this is true...

2007-09-28T19:17:00.000-05:00

To anyone who has met me in person and knows what my coworkers, friends and landlady call me (ok, my legal name) this is beyond funny!

The Most Amazing Qu--Hey, Look, Candy! Your Result: Polka Dotted Sasquatch You are seriously polka dotted. And fuzzy. Actually extremely fuzzy. You should probably buy a razor. You're starting to freak me out here. And I don't know how to spell your name.
Purple Sofa
Emerald Rain
Flaming Feather
Swirling Vortex
Pickled Jellyfish
The Most Amazing Qu--Hey, Look, Candy! Make Your Own Quiz

Froggie's wife took this (via phone) and here are her results. Scary! Very Scary!!! :-)

The Most Amazing Qu--Hey, Look, Candy! Your Result: Purple Sofa You're nice and squishy, and people like you a lot. In fact, I think everyone likes you. Plus you're purple. Everyone likes purple, and everyone likes sofas. Except guys don't like purple as much. Samuel L. Jackson likes purple. That's why he has a purple lightsaber. Only I don't know if that's his actual name. So it goes.
Emerald Rain
Swirling Vortex
Flaming Feather
Polka Dotted Sasquatch
Pickled Jellyfish
The Most Amazing Qu--Hey, Look, Candy! Make Your Own Quiz

No Homosexuals in Iran

2007-09-28T11:43:00.000-05:00

This is from The Borowitz Report courtesy of Undeniable Liberal.

OMG is it funny!!

http://undeniableliberalism.blogspot.com/2007/09/early-friday-funny.html

Matthew Shepard Act

2007-09-28T09:50:00.000-05:00

The Matthew Shepard Act has been passed by both the House and the Senate. In case you are not familiar with this it is:

"The measure would give the federal government more leeway to investigate and prosecute hate crimes and increase federal jurisdiction on such crimes. More important, it would expand the groups protected under current law to include such categories as disability, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity. " - ABC News (http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3659768&page=1)

It is amazing that this is moving forward. FINALLY, some federal protection from rape, beatings, and murder because of my orientation. It is strangely comforting to know that if the worst does happen to me that something would be done about it instead of it dissappearing in the haze of some backward town's sheriff department.

However...

The president has vowed to veto this act. Go fucking figure. Wonder what lord Cheney thinks about that? Course he wouldn't need to give a flying shit about it cause he can always afford to hire protection for his little angel or pull strings to make sure she doesn't get fired.

Unlike the rest of us.

Anyhoo...

I do have something for those who voted against protecting MY freedom. (Hat tip to Ru for sending me this a while ago.)

Do your tits hang low?

2007-09-24T09:57:00.000-05:00

I was bitching to my wife the other day about how my poor boobies are headed down to my waist.

This (other than shit keeps breaking) is probably the biggest thing that gets me about getting older. It sucks. I miss my perky boobies. I don’t think I can do the surgery thing cause, you know, that would be joining in with the superficial snobs of the world and who the hell wants to join them?

Bitch, whine, moan….

My wife’s response?

She started singing this song. You should be able to guess the tune.

Do your tits hang low?
Do they wobble to and fro?
Can you tie 'em in a knot?
Can you tie 'em in a bow?
Can you throw them over your shoulder like a Continental Soldier?
Do your tits hang looooow?

I would have called her a bitch for that but I was laughing too hard.

Subjective

2007-09-21T10:49:00.000-05:00

“What is real?”
Morpheus in Matrix.

All of reality is subjective.

My reality is not your reality and vice versa. What I perceive as a warm day is cold to others. Just look at Floridians who come up here to visit. My experience of living in a colder climate has conditioned me to feel 70 degree weather as warm. I am sure that you can come up with other examples for yourselves.

There are those who believe that all of reality is the same for everyone.

Universal.

Static.

Solid.

Not according to my experience. You know, solid, is not really solid at all.

Science has proven that there are tiny, sub-microscopic spaces between apparently “solid” matter. The keyboard I am using to write this has space between the molecules that make up the plastic that make up the parts to the keyboard. What we perceive as “solid” is really the electromagnetic repulsion of the molecules that my hand is composed of being pushed away from the molecules of the plastic in the keyboard. In a way, I am not really touching the plastic of the keys.

Still with me?

Lets go a step further.

“What is Truth?”

My truth, just like my reality, is colored by my experiences. What is true for me is not the same truth for you.

There are those who believe that there is only one universal truth.

I am less and less inclined to believe that.

I believe that there are many universal truths. I believe that the ones I connect with are just a true as the ones you connect with. However, I believe that those that are true for you, are not necessarily truth for me.

The truth in my universe is not the same as the truth in your universe.

Makes for an interesting view of the world…

Dude! Where's my Country?!?

2007-09-17T00:11:00.000-05:00

Finally, something to do about the insane bullshit going on.

http://shutitdown101707.blogspot.com/

Ah, more quizzes

2007-09-11T22:08:00.001-05:00

You Are a Yellow Crayon

Your world is colored with happy, warm, fun colors.
You have a thoughtful and wise way about you. Some people might even consider you a genius.
Charming and eloquent, you are able to get people to do things your way.
While you seem spontaneous and free wheeling, you are calculating to the extreme.

Your color wheel opposite is purple. You both are charismatic leaders, but purple people act like you have no depth.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Love'n internet at home.

2007-09-11T21:56:00.000-05:00

You Are Animal

A complete lunatic, you're operating on 100% animal instincts.You thrive on uncontrolled energy, and you're downright scary.But you sure can beat a good drum."Kill! Kill!"

The Muppet Personality Test

http://www.blogthings.com/themuppetpersonalitytest/

Got this in an email and

2007-09-10T22:04:00.000-05:00

Just too good not to share!

Texas Car Wreck . . . Play by Play

You've got to listen to this! It's a phone call from a man in Texas who witnessed a car accident involving 4 elderly women. It was so popular when they played it on CHUM FM (a radio station in Canada) that they had to put it on their site. The intro says the man called his friend to tell him about the accident, but it sounds like the man was in the midst of leaving amessage on his friend's machine when the accident happened and he stayed on the phone to give a play-by-play.......hilarious! Click onthe link & turn up the speakers!!

Click here:
http://www.chumfm.com/MorningShow/bits/march24.swf

Back to light and fluffy

2007-09-06T23:00:00.000-05:00

I am finally getting the answers to all those things I have wondered about all these years and I feel like I am picking things up from long ago.

For example I had looked for a a copy of the song "Groove is in the heart" by Deee-lite back when the song first came out. I just today finally found one on CD.

Do you remember the song "When I think of you, I touch myself"? I heard that song long ago when I was in college (and about 8 years before I admitted I am gay). I heard about the video to that song and I really wanted to see it. Couldn't find it then. I have always wondered about that video cause what I heard about it... well, if you remember the song, you can imagine what the video looks like.

I, just 6 minutes ago, finally, after waiting 16 years, saw the video.

DAAAAMMNNNN.

After picking my jaw up off the floor I remembered when this was released and I thought about how I was at that time. I was so heavily closeted that I would not admit, even to myself, that I am gay. Gay was a choice, and more importantly, of the devil.

*Hanging head* Yes, secret is out. I come from a fundamentalist Christian background and was very into it till not too long before I came out to myself. I call myself a "recovering Southern Baptist."

But, I digress...

After watching this video I waited 16 years to see, I had a realization. I am really, reeeeally, glad I couldn't find it then. I was so heavily closeted (such a shame) that had I seen this when it first came out, I would have had a seizure and my head would have imploded from the sheer...

Uh

Aw shit. I can't describe it. Y'all watch it and tell me what you think.
:-)

Thank God for YouTube!

Yeah. This is a good reason to stay in Iraq.

2007-08-31T12:25:00.000-05:00

Porter ties U.S. withdrawal from Iraq to $9 gasoline

WASHINGTON -- Gasoline prices could rise to about $9 per gallon if the United States withdraws troops from Iraq prematurely, Rep. Jon Porter said he was told on a trip to Iraq that ended this week.

Read the rest here: http://www.lvrj.com/news/9466252.html

Once again

2007-08-28T11:44:00.000-05:00

Bush opted for business over safety.

Efforts to crack down on lead paint thwarted by China, Bush Administration

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/19070.html

God Bless the Onion!

2007-08-28T07:24:00.001-05:00

You know this argument is coming soon...

'Gays Too Precious To Risk In Combat,' Says General

I have never maxed out a scale before.

2007-08-26T19:23:00.000-05:00

Kinda neat to do so though...

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Science/Math Nerd (Absolute Insane Laughter as you pour toxic chemicals into a foaming tub of death!) Well, maybe you aren't this extreme, but you're in league with the crazy scientists/mathmeticians of today. Very few people have the talent of math and science is something takes a lot of brains as well. Thank whosever God you worship, or don't worship, so thank no deity whatsoever in your case, for you people! Most of us would have died off without your help.
Social Nerd
Literature Nerd
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Musician
Artistic Nerd
Drama Nerd
Anime Nerd
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace

Ok, really, I am going to bed now...

2007-08-24T23:40:00.000-05:00

And my therapist didn't believe me.

What mental disorder do you have? Your Result: ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) You have a very hard time focusing, and you find it difficult to stay on task without your mind wandering. You probably zone in and out of conversations and tend to miss out on directions because you cannot focus
Manic Depressive
OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder)
Paranoia
What mental disorder do you have?

Ok, I need to get out more...

2007-08-24T23:37:00.000-05:00

You Are 73% Strange!

You are pretty darn strange. You're quirky and odd, and definitely not normal. But that's great--it makes you an interesting person. You aren't exactly as strange as they come, but congratulations on being quite unique!

How Strange Are You?
Quizzes for MySpace

Found a place to go on the Internet...

2007-08-24T22:54:00.000-05:00

Holy Shit again Batman. Here we go again.

Fox Attacks Iran

Internet, Internet, where shall I go on the internet

2007-08-22T23:31:00.001-05:00

I have internet access that does not involve my office!

Woo Hooo!

Last night was the first night I have had the ability to just surf the internet. No worrying about the boss seeing me.

I sat in front of my computer after waiting all day to surf to my hearts content.

Then.

I drew a blank.

Where the hell do I want to go?

I sat for a little while then realized how fucking funny this was. I waited two years for unlimited guilt free surfing and now I had no idea where I wanted to go.

I wonder if they sell maps to the internet?

What do you get when you combine:

2007-08-20T11:21:00.000-05:00

A sleep deprivation induced altered state of consciousness

A liberal amount of coffee

and

A good music mix CD from the 60’s and 70’s rock?

One hellofa fun day at work.

Sing along with me!

When the moon is in the seventh house
and Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planet
and love will steer the stars

This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius...

Leeeet the sunshine
leeeeet the sunshine in
The suuuun shine iiiinn.

Never Forget that Stupidity Really Does Kill

2007-08-06T18:18:00.000-05:00

The picture you see here is from August 2001. In the picture you see Harriet Myers giving President Bush an urgent report from the CIA titled "Bin Laden Determined To Attack America."

The CIA felt that this was so important they took the unusual step of interrupting his vacation and sent people down to his ranch to discuss the report in person. His response?

“All right, you’ve covered your ass now.”

Click here to read more about this

Oh yea...

2007-07-17T18:05:00.001-05:00

internet at home soon so posts more frequent than like once every three months...

Priceless - Part 2

2007-07-17T17:59:00.000-05:00

I OWN THE TRUCK!!!

No more riding the bus for-fucking-ever to go 11 miles for a doctor appointment.

No more getting up at 5:30 am for a 9:30 am appointment.

No more freezing my ass off waiting for the bus or on the open platform of the Metro in the middle of winter.

No more asking "is this metro accessable" when thinking about going someplace.

I can go to the woods, and commune with nature, at the drop of a hat.

I can listen to my music as loud as I want with the windows open while commuting TO WORK!!!

(really to ANYWHERE!)

She isn't much to look at but I tell ya, she is great.

Pictures to come soon.

Frogies Priceless

2007-04-12T13:04:00.001-05:00

Used pick up truck - $1,500
Insurance - $140 a month
Gas - up to $100 a month

No longer having to get up at 4:30 in the morning to make a 7:30 MRI appointment that is only 11 miles away - Priceless

What my life is like

2007-02-15T11:31:00.000-05:00

Hello all,

This is a neat slideshow about what my life and countless others lives are like.

http://news.yahoo.com/page/gay_marriage;_ylt=A0WTUewj.NNFDAIAqzes0NUE

The first couple is lucky. They can afford the legal fees entailed in getting the paperwork done.

I cannot.

The second couple is also lucky. They have custody of their children.

I do not.

If I lived in the state of Virginia it would be illegal for me to draw up the paperwork to protect property inheritance, hospital visitation and joint property ownership. In a lot of states even if I did have the paperwork I am not guaranteed simple hospital visitation.

Can you imagine what it is like to pack for a simple vacation? I, and countless others, make sure we bring the medical power of attorney paperwork with us. This is just to simply be able to sit with our partner in the treatment room if our partner gets sick, instead of being forced to wait in the waiting room with no information given to us because we are not related.

Sometimes, in the fight about what to call it, we lose sight of what it all really means...

Thanks,

Frog

Bloody Hell!

2007-02-05T18:16:00.000-05:00

Ok, here I am at work. We are planning to shuffle the entire 9th floor of my building around. In other words 42 office moves. Forty-Two people will be changing offices. Forty-Two. Not just moving to another floor. That would be too easy. No, we are moving them around. Just. around. from office to office.

So, myself and two of my co-workers just spent two and a half hours figuring out how we can do this, based on the (initially incomplete, didn't get the whole one till we found problems with the first one) list of who goes where. The reason is, some people are going into offices that other people need to vacate first. Only 4 instances have people moving into actual empty offices. So, doing the math... that leaves 38 moves that are in some way dependant on each other. Five of these instances actually have more than three office moves needing to take place before the last person can move in. Anyone familiar with the term Charley Foxtrot?

As far as I can tell most of these moves are not based on helping operations be more efficient or to save space. I asked, multiple times, about the need to move all of these people a lot of whom have moved offices in the last 10 MONTHS. An answer could not be given. Eventually it came down to TPTB (The Powers That Be) want to do this.

In all of my years of working for that most illogical organization, then for the organization that made a twisted sort of sense, doing so many things that I didn’t understand, I don't think I have ever said the words I said to my boss right before we got out of the planning session...

"This is stupid."

Ahhhhh... Smell the bullshit.

2007-01-24T17:26:00.000-05:00

This quote from the President's State of the Union speech sounds like this may be the President’s way of getting around the unbelievably stupid policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” without offending those conservatives who believe that the only good queer is in the closet, or even better, dead.

“A second task we can take on together is to design and establish a volunteer Civilian Reserve Corps. Such a corps would function much like our military reserve. It would ease the burden on the Armed Forces by allowing us to hire civilians with critical skills to serve on missions abroad when America needs them. It would give people across America who do not wear the uniform a chance to serve in the defining struggle of our time.”

I mean really, would it be that bad to let honest, hard working, dedicated, massively patriotic people serve our country? I guess it is a problem if that person happens to have a difference that is so small, so inconsequential, so not having anything to do with the ability and the quality of service, that unless you ask or they tell you… you wouldn’t even know.

The United Kingdom has had “integrated” (read Gays and Lesbians serving openly) services for a long time now. That country didn’t fall into the ocean. No rain of Holy Fire or lightning came down. In fact in a quote from The Sunday Times of London on August 28th 2005 Captain Guy Sutcliffe one of the officers working at the Army’s recruiting booth at a gay pride festival said: “We are actively recruiting anyone. We reflect society irrespective of sexuality, gender or religion.” Sutcliffe said the army had “no idea” how many gay soldiers there were within its ranks. “It’s not relevant,” he said. “It’s not something we monitor.”

Contrast that thought with what General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley said in 1998 about the court decision allowing gays to serve openly.

“The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the British Armed Forces are obliged to enlist avowed homosexuals. Wittingly or otherwise, this decision will strike at morale and discipline.

The court's assumption is that military employments are much the same as others. But they are not.

The services are recruited and trained for war fighting. In this function death or wounds are a regular outcome. Those engaged are obliged to operate in close groups for long periods; comradeship is the binding factor. Ata a time when homogeneity is essential, sexual squabbles will be disruptive. Perhaps fatally so. “

Amazing that one of our closest allies, who previously used the same arguments to ban queer personnel as we do today, is so concerned about gays in the military that seven years after the General's argument for exclusion they don’t even bother to find out how many are serving.

Course, I can’t tell the difference between the President’s suggestion above and the currently existing system of hiring government contractors.

Unless, what he really means is mercenaries…

Gotta See to Believe...

2007-01-03T16:53:00.000-05:00

This is for those out there who like me prefer the non-PC, gonna piss people off flip side of religion.

http://ruachx.blogspot.com/search/label/Sorta%20almost%20makes%20Benedict%20worth%20it

Story from the Associated Press via Yahoo!

2007-01-02T17:21:00.000-05:00

First off here is the link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070102/ap_on_fe_st/o_hare_ufo_sighting

Second off here is the story since Yahoo tends to discontinue the links after a while...

BTW... the last line is priceless...

A UFO at O'Hare? Some pilots thought so

Mon Jan 1, 7:02 PM ET (Associated Press)

CHICAGO - Federal officials say it was probably just some weird weather phenomenon, but a group of United Airlines employees swear they saw a mysterious, saucer-shaped craft hovering over O'Hare Airport last fall.

The workers, some of them pilots, said the object didn't have lights and hovered over an airport terminal before shooting up through the clouds, according to a report in Monday's Chicago Tribune.

The Federal Aviation Administration acknowledged that a United supervisor had called the control tower at O'Hare, asking if anyone had spotted a spinning disc-shaped object. But the controllers didn't see anything, and a preliminary check of radar found nothing out of the ordinary, FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory said.

"Our theory on this is that it was a weather phenomenon," Cory said. "That night was a perfect atmospheric condition in terms of low (cloud) ceiling and a lot of airport lights. When the lights shine up into the clouds, sometimes you can see funny things."

The FAA is not investigating, Cory said.

United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said company officials don't recall discussing any such incident from Nov. 7.

At least one O'Hare controller, union official Craig Burzych, was amused by it all. "To fly 7 million light years to O'Hare and then have to turn around and go home because your gate was occupied is simply unacceptable," he said.

Just LOVE this image!

2006-12-15T19:12:00.000-05:00

Interactive time...

2006-12-15T08:59:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple of statements that should be on T-Shirts. Some I came up with, the others I have given attribution. One day I will have them printed.

"Paranoia. Not just for the mentally ill anymore."

"You would be amazed at what you can do with your mind when you have less on it."

Thanks to Rauch X for this next one. To be worn by a blind friend while riding public transportation...

"The red on the end of this cane is not paint! Do you feel lucky?"

In response to my statement of "Will work for eye-candy" the same person who will wear the previous shirt suggested…

"Will work for tactile candy"

I think she has an unfair advantage in the candy department…

Are there any others out there who would like to add a comment that should go on a t-shirt? Please post using the comments feature. :-)

Work work work

2006-12-15T08:56:00.000-05:00

I have a lot going on in my life... so why have the last two blog entries been about work? Perhaps I am doing too much of it? Na... just haven't felt like chatting up a storm about the other stuff. Perhaps soon...

Get'n screwed

2006-12-14T11:21:00.000-05:00

This is from the tech support page of a company that sells an OCR software that costs over $450.

Contact Technical Support

Individual users can interact with [deleted company name because I sure don't want to get sued] through a pay per-incident email process. Incidents can be reported by completing the Problem Report Form at a cost of $9.95 per incident.

It gets even better if you want to call...

$19.95 per incident

And God help you if you got their software as part of a hardware purchase...

$39.95 per incident

If it costs 10 bucks per email, 20 bucks per phone call and 40 BUCKS for a bundled thing, then shit, I am in the wrong kind of software support. Even the giant Microsoft doesn't do that to ya.

Not even a kiss first...

Laptop from hell

2006-12-02T16:08:00.000-05:00

This is my statement after spending all day yesterday (a Friday) and today (a Saturday) trying to find the correct driver for the "Unknown Device" that keeps generating a Hardware Found message.

None of the drivers from the manufacturer are working. None of the drivers from the chip maker are working. Drivers from overseas are not working. Nothing is working.

So...

I uninstalled the "Unknown Device"

and

now I can't use the laptop without going into VGA mode because as soon as WinXP starts the screen stops.

Ah HA! you say. It must be a video driver!

Nope... got all of those.

fuckityfuckdamshittypieceofshitlaptopmadebyabadmanufacturerefuckityfuck.

Who knew...

2006-11-07T13:10:00.000-05:00

This is too funny and I will write more about this later!

More Bad Milk

2006-08-14T09:56:00.000-05:00

Ok, this one wins the dumas award for this week. I got this email in the IT Support inbox at work...

"Hi,

Work #27229 is for off network, #26525 is for messy subdirectories I sent out on July 24 (see the email below).

Thanks [deleted] for working hard on this problem. However, the problem is still here. The folder "[deleted]" created on Aug. 9 contains 117 sub-folders, 609 files, 57.6 MB.
Is it ok if I delete the "All Users," "[deleted]", "[deleted]" and "[deleted]" folders from here?
I hope you can fix the problem. "

The folder "All Users" contains the shortcuts, data, and application information to most of the software installed on every Window's based PC out there.

This is part of the answer my boss gave this person... "The All Users Folder is where most of the Program settings are, including most of the ones you use. If you look under your profile, you'll see very few settings under the Start menu. Kill the All Users folder, and most of your programs will be inaccessible." Just this folder alone being deleted would basically blow up the Windows operating system.

The reason this question wins the award??

The person who sent this email is a software developer.

Bad Milk...

2006-07-28T11:20:00.000-05:00

Have you ever pulled something out of the refrigerator, smelled it, then after jerking your head away said to someone else "Oh my God! You have to smell this!"? I call that the bad milk principle. It is so bad you can’t resist sharing.

I received this email in my Spam folder at work today and this is a perfect example of a bad milk moment.

"-----Original Message-----
From: service@microsoft.com [mailto:service@microsoft.com]
Sent: Friday, July 28, 2006 2:28 PM
To:
Subject: Potential Spam: Monetary prize from Microsoft

Dear Microsoft Consumer!

Within the limits of advertising company Microsoft has played USD 1000000 between the clients. The choice occured in the casual image. On yours e-mail the monetary prize at a rate of USD 52346 has dropped out. To receive it, it is necessary for you to visit ours Resolution Centre and to fill the small form.

Please click here to visit the Microsoft Resolution Centre <http://de-ta.org/microsoft/index.html>
Corporation Microsoft congratulates you on a prize and that you and in the further will use our development hopes.

Microsoft Corporation"

First. I have to say that this is a pretty bad attempt at fraud. If you are going to be sending this to native English speakers claiming to be from a company that has more money than God, you should at least have checked the grammar, because they sure as shit would have paid big bucks to have it reviewed before sending it. Said company feels that grammar is so important that they include it in their word processing software at no extra cost.

Second. Microsoft is a company based in the U.S. so why in the hell would they use the "USD 1000000" with no comma, no dollar sign, and with the USD? Also, why would Microsoft spell "center" as "centre”? If Microsoft were in the UK I could see that but... Oh man. I pasted this into MS Word to check my own spelling and in addition to spazzing about the grammar it picked up on “occured” instead of “occurred.” Missed that one. LOL

Third. The web address just screams "gonna load so much shit on your machine that you will end up having to reload the Operating system, all your data, and any other software you had on it to get rid of all the crap."

I hope you understand why I just had to say "Oh God! You have to see this!"

Little Frog and Not So Little Frog Update

2006-07-25T17:28:00.000-05:00

After a time I went and checked on the little and not so little frogs that I rescued in the "Kentucky Fried Frog" post. I noticed that they haven't been back. I went and asked my landlady "have you seen the frogs?" She said "No I haven't. I think they got washed downstream."

So now I can only assume that they are happily living out their reptile lives in someone elses window well. What were the lyrics to Born Free again?

Sing along with me everyone...

Born free, as free as the wind blows, as free as the grass grows,

Born free to follow your heart.

Live free and beauty surrounds you, the world still astounds you,

Each time you look at the stars.

Stay free where no walls divide you, you're free as the roaring tide,

So there's no need to hide.

Born free and life is worth living, but only worth livng,

Cause you're born free.

Live free little froggies...

Still not a convience...

2006-07-25T17:26:00.000-05:00

So I went by to the store today. I tested the Dr. Pepper and still no good. I tested the Moutain Dew and it was good!!

Too bad the slurpee machines aren't working...

Sorry bout that

2006-07-18T08:08:00.000-05:00

Have to say sorry to y'all since I was so good for a while there about posting then the bottom fell out of my life. I PROMISE a new post in the next day or so.

CAUTION: really funny, really bad....

2006-06-30T13:58:00.000-05:00

Check out the link my friend Phuc Du sent me a little bit ago...

http://media.putfile.com/272711_Wok_the_Fuck_lag_compensat

Note: If you have Political Correctness sensitivities about this Phuc Du is Vietnamese

Last Photo I Ever Took

2006-06-30T11:06:00.000-05:00

These are courtesy of my friend Nancy.
This is from an email titled "last photo I ever took" contest.

And my favorite (especially after this week):

Kentucky Fried Frog

2006-06-26T16:31:00.000-05:00

We had a bad rainstorm last night. Bad enough that on the way home from dinner, I looked at my landlady and asked “did we miss the ‘build the ark’ memo?”

When my landlady and I got home we went to the back yard to check on the pool. Apparently, during really heavy downpours, the pool will overflow. I never thought that an overflowing pool would be a problem till my landlady told me that when it overflows it picks up all the dirt and shit and drags it into the pool. Course the pool pulling dirt in actually wasn’t the problem last night. The problem was the shit-ton of water washing downhill from the neighbor’s yard, around a brick wall and into the pool. Well, after this storm the pool has so much dirt and shit in it that it has turned into a muddy, murky pond. As of this morning there are now frogs in it. I now have a frog’s pond in the back yard so the irony about the blog name is pretty funny. But I digress…

After my landlady saw the pool was overflowed she and I ran out to try and get the pool level back down to try and stem the damage. It was then that we noticed the sound… a waterfall kind of sound. We turned toward the sound and saw a river of water pouring off the roof into the basement window wells. The windows in the basement are below ground so there are “window wells” that keep the dirt back. Apparently they keep water in really well too. When we looked just then the windows were about ¾ of the way under water.

SHIT!!!

We ran over and agreed that we needed to get the water out. She went into the garage and got a small trashcan. I started bailing while she went into the basement to check and see if the water was getting in. Bail, Bail, Bail, Bail…

Did I mention that this wasn’t just a rain storm? This was a THUNDER storm.

Big peals of thunder, bright flashes of lightning, me standing in ankle deep water using a trash can to bail out the window well thinking to myself “this is not a good idea” and “SHIT THAT WAS CLOSE!”

My landlady took a turn bailing while I tried to figure a way to keep the waterfall from continuing to cascade into the window wells. I sent her inside to find some sheets of plastic while I bailed. It was then that I remembered the little frog, and not so little frog, that live in the window well. These are the frogs that have unofficially become my pets.

I looked for them and saw the little one riding on the big one’s back. They were trying to escape the cascade of water thundering down. I took the bailing bucket and scooped them up. I stood up and looked around for a place to put them where they could stay wet but not drown. “There! On the bench!” I hurried over to put them on the bench close by so that I wouldn’t get too far behind in the bailing.

Just as the two frogs were about to turn around and wave their thanks, I hear this electrical buzzing sound in my ear and my right pinky finger feels like there is an electrical current running through it. “Hmmm. That feels weird…”

SHIT!

I jump back just as the lightning strike hits close.

“Ok God. Whatever I did to piss you off I am REALLY sorry!!!”

I stand back under the overhang of the house eyes as big as saucers and what do I think? “Shit, I almost got Kentucky Fried, but, I need to keep bailing, but I almost got fried, but I need to keep the water out of the basement, but I almost got electrocuted, but I really need to keep bailing, but I almost got extra crispy, but I need to keep bailing.”

After a full minute’s debate back and fourth I decide that “you know what… I think I will just… go… inside… now...” I gently place the “bucket” down, open the sliding glass door and go inside.

My landlady took one look at me and said “you alright?” I said “yea… uh… I don’t think I will do any more bailing for now.” She said “Good! I was just going to go out and get you since there is so much lightning.”

God’s most likely response to the statement above: “No need to be sorry. You’re just an idiot.”

Convenience continued…

2006-06-20T14:45:00.000-05:00

My life is hard and so I try to take pleasure in the simple things, especially since I am poor and can’t afford the complex (read: expensive) things. I look forward to things like a slice of pizza, a cookie or a soda.

So, on the way to my favorite lunch spot (read: cheep, 7-11 kind of thing) I was talking to my partner. I asked “what do you think the odds are they will have Dr. Pepper? Slim or None?” My partner said “None.” I agreed and when I went into the convenience store I decided to not check the soda machine for once.

After picking my lunch, I couldn’t resist just having a quick look on my way out to the checkout. The soda list on the machine was changed. I reached out and pressed the Dr. Pepper button. YEAH!!! Woo Hoo!!! Dr. Pepper came out. I pulled a cup and tested the soda. Mmmmmmm!!! It was warm but good.

I filled a cup with ice and started the Dr. Pepper flowing, happy that after waiting 6 months for this I was FINALLY going to get my wish. After the cup was filled I noticed something…

I noticed that it wasn’t fizzing.

I looked at it for a little bit unable to accept the truth. They haven’t fixed it yet. They finally changed the syrup but they disconnected the carbonation in the process.

Bummer…

Mindfuck

2006-06-15T08:50:00.000-05:00

Have you ever mindfucked yourself? I highly recommend it. Mental masturbation just like really good sex it gives you something to think about other than life for a while. Very satisfying. You may not know what I mean by a good mindfuck so I will explain.

Watch Mary Poppins immediately followed by SOB sometime. Everyone is familiar with Mary Poppins. I mean you would have had to live under a rock for your entire life to have missed this one. A bitch’n nanny comes into the life of a really uptight family and using song and sound arguments rocks their world. The carpetbag alone is worth seeing. She pulls fucking EVERYTHING out of this bag. I want one!

In case you did miss the movie I will sum up. A wealthy, very uptight British family in the early 1900’s has just lost there like 15th nanny. The nannies keep leaving because the kids are a nightmare. They misbehave all over the place trying to get the attention of their parents. The mother loves the kids but is in the women’s votes movement and had little time for them. The father is a banker who wants a “proper” and “respectable” family rooted in the Victorian ideals (read kids should be seen but not heard and wife should be happy being the little woman at home supporting her man). Mary Poppins comes in and helps the family to get over the blocks that are in the way of really relating to each other.

SOB is dark comedy that came out around the 1981. This is a movie that most likely few people in their early 30’s or younger have seen. Classic Blake Edwards. He also did Victor/Victoria and the original Pink Panther series among others. SOB is a movie that satirizes the Hollywood of the time. Sex drugs and profits are the goal in this universe. There is a scene where a doctor (played to perfection by Robert Preston) wants to have a B12 shot to help with a hangover and asks a hitchhiker (a very young Rosanna Arquette) if she knows how to give an injection. “I was a junkie once” she replies. “Good enough for me” he says.

SOB takes the worst of Hollywood and puts in on display for all to see in a way that makes you laugh. The plot of SOB is that a well renowned very successful director makes his latest masterpiece (a light, touchy feely movie about a woman remembering her coming of age) and in initial screening it is a huge flop. He goes into suicidal depression and his status queen wife (the star of the movie he made) leaves him. A party is thrown at his house to cheer him up where “Studio 54” would be a good description of it. During the party he gets the idea to re-film the movie turning it into a sexual exposition. The rest of SOB is about the re-filming (his wife has a hard time filming the topless scene so needs a little chemical help but succeeds. “I am going to show my boobies. Are you here to see my boobies?” Yep, we get to see them.) and the director’s exploits trying to retain the rights after the studio realizes it has a huge blockbuster on it’s hands.

“OK,” you say. “So I watch these two together. Big deal?”

They both star Julie Andrews. She plays the nanny in Mary Poppins and director’s wife in SOB.

Mindfucked ya didn’t I.

God reminds me to laugh somtimes...

2006-06-14T08:25:00.000-05:00

There are moments where God reminds me that sometimes you just need to laugh. Take what happened the other day:

I was at work and listening to System of a Down’s “Kill Rock and Roll.” I get an email from my partner saying that the woman who for years has called her fat, ugly, a failure and other worse insults was mowing the lawn at her dad’s house. My partner said: “I opened the window and jumped back. What am I FIVE??”

I cracked up laughing because right then my imagination filled with the picture of the Wicked Bitch of the West (WBOTW for short) sweating her anorexicly skinny ass off trying to push this heavy mower across the lawn to these lyrics “I felt like the biggest ass hole… when I killed your rock and roll… mow down the sexy people… eat all the grass that you want, accidents happen in the dark.”

How could you not laugh??

F*ing Computers

2006-06-12T18:44:00.000-05:00

I hate computers. This is bad when you work in an industry like I do… I am an IT specialist. Perhaps this is why I hate computers. They aren’t like people where you have the possibility of slapping them when they piss you off. All you get when you slap a computer is a sore hand. Even hitting the enter key repeatedly to vent frustration just gets you a bunch of beeping and probably another error.

At least people have the ability to tell you what is going on. They may not use it as much as we would like but they do give you more information than “cannot find the driver for PCI device.” I mean what the fuck does that mean exactly? Which PCI device?? There are like 6 on the machine I am building and THEY all have drivers. Even newborn infants give you more information than that!

Microsoft is a company I would like to see have to use the shit that they make. But I want them to use it like we do… with shit like PCI device error and General Protection Fault. My favorite error is the one you get after Microsoft installs their software verification tool. That error has no fix because you can’t reinstall it and there is no way to uninstall the shit. “Reinstall Windows” they say. YOU reinstall windows asshole! Oh, and by the way, reinstall all the other software and copy all the data I had on there too while you are at it!

One day I will attach the media file that shows our friend Bill having Windows crash on him during a presentation. Very satisfying.

Convenience my ass

2006-06-11T17:14:00.000-05:00

I think I have found the worst convenience store on the planet. The food is ok and the workers actually do speak English, but the soda machine is never working. More than that, I have to sample the soda I do get from the machine to make sure that what is being dispensed is at least close to what the label says it is.

The Dr. Pepper hasn’t worked since I started going there. That was back in the last week of December. It is now June. You think they could have gotten around to hooking up the Dr. Pepper by now. I mean we are talking about 6 months here. It doesn’t take 6 months to change the syrup, I know this because I have worked food retail before, and have replaced the syrup before. It takes a completely unskilled person about 15 minutes to change it out. It takes 20 if you don’t have the directions. Maybe 30 if you have to find the manager after spending 5 minutes looking for the damn directions and then spend 10 minutes trying to figure it out on your own because you were too proud to ask the manager. But I digress….

Soda machines aren’t that difficult to take care of. Just ask the average McDonalds employee. It certainly should not take 6 months to change out the syrup in one.

It has become sort of a game these days, when I go over there to get my lunch. “Have the fixed the Dr. Pepper yet?” I go to the machine full of hope and dreams that perhaps today will be the day… perhaps I will FINALLY get to have a nice cold Dr. Pepper with my pre-packaged sandwich (Made fresh June 8th. Best before June 12th). A nice tall one (32 ounces at least) with lots of ice so I can enjoy a cold Dr. Pepper in my 1,000 degree office. Each day I go, I approach the machine, looking at the Dr. Pepper button, reaching out slowly, pressing the button, and…. once again, semi-carbonated water comes pouring out. It doesn’t even have the courtesy to bubble. With sagging shoulders I realize that once again no Dr. Pepper. I then switch to the back-up soda. Coke! That staple of late 19th century addiction when they used actual cocaine in the mix. Formula is different these days but the name stuck. But, I digress…

I go to the Coke dispenser with disappointment but at least I will have a nice cold soda. Not my first choice but hey, why be picky right? I press the button and… carbonated water pours out making gentile splashing noises like a relaxing waterfall. Except it would BE relaxing if it were the ACTUAL soda splashing into my ice filled cup dammit! Just breathe, it will be ok… just pick another one. I try the Mountain Dew. Yeah! Real soda coming out! I put some in a cup and sample it. EEEWWWW what the HELL is that?!?

After pouring it out and debating if I should get a different cup I look at the last available choices. Diet, Diet, Diet, and Pepsi. I sigh and look to the Pepsi since I don’t drink anything that starts with the word “die.” I try the Pepsi and it seems ok. I shrug and fill my cup with ice. As I press the Pepsi button I sigh and try to pretend that I am actually getting my Dr. Pepper. Each day is the same routine.

Someone told me once that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. I am not sure if this applies here since I really don’t expect different results. I just hope. I occasionally ask the guys working (who speak remarkably good English) “Is the Dr. Pepper going to get fixed?” They look at me an assure me “Tomorrow or early next week” Promises, promises.